(A critical discussion of:)

Little History of Photography (Kleine Geschichte der Photographie, Petite Histoire de la Photographie, Short History of Photography)

by Walter Benjamin , A biography)

The essay is important as a brief, early critical history of photography. We summarize main points, and comment on the essay in the end.

Benjamin states in the introduction that the first decade of photography was its best. In the decade that preceded the industrialization of photography, it enchanted. Later, photography liberated itself from a non-technological conception of art, and, in fact, enlarged greatly its domain of applicability.

The precision of portrait photography, Benjamin claims, magically passes on the individuality of the person photographed. We look for the coincidence, the visual subconscious laid bare by the photographic paper. Early portrait photography was mysterious, timid, detailed, vivid, impressive. The long exposure forced models to be at rest for a long time and impressed a sense of duration on the photography. Early photographs were meant to last.

Soon, photography replaced some landscape painting, and a lot of miniature portrait painting. Portrait photography rapidly became a business, accesorizing, adding unnecessary elements and 'retouches'. The aura of early portrait photography (- the young Kafka -) originated in the long posing, the often bad lighting, the obscure, and the obscurity of the model. These were soon replaced by the faithful mirror photography held up to the rising middle class.

Photography (- Atget -) replaced the aura of the early image by the emptiness of the city view. Man and the reproducible image became strangers. Sander no longer photographs individuals, but classes of people.

The mechanical reproducibility of art and photography has given rise to a different mode of perception, in which we have reduced objects and made them manipulable. Photography made objects beautiful, suited for creative sales, but fails to portray human relations. The photograph of a factory does not portray the human relations within. It is necessary to create something artificial to represent the real.

Not only do the viewers need to learn the visual language, photographers themselves need to learn how to read their proper images better. A visual legend needs to be constructed to elevate photography above the approximate.

Summary and critique: Benjamin's history of photography is marked by nostalgia, and concentrates on typical and salient aspects of very early portrait photography, noting the importance of long exposure and posing times. He introduces key concepts that reappear in his The work of art in the age of its technological reproducibility (namely the aura of the work of art, as well as the influence of the reproducibility of art through photographs of art). He rightly asserts that it is often necessary to artifically create a scenery to faithfully represent the real. Although Benjamin mentions this aspect of photography in the industrial domain, where he holds particularly strong views, his (or Brecht's) remark is much more generally valid. The visual legend that Benjamin demanded has been partially constructed through the mass reproduction of photographs that Benjamin feared. Both the latter points need further analysis.

"Kleine Geschichte der Photographie", Die Literarische Welt, 7e j, n° 38, 18 septembre, p. 3-4; n° 39, 25 septembre, p. 3-4 et n° 40, 2 octobre 1931, p. 7-8, Walter Benjamin.

Copyright 2005, by Jan Troost