“It is often said that “seeing is believing” but in many cases the reverse is also true… believing results in seeing”, or is it? These are the words of Donald L. Hicks in Look Into the Stillness. This is a book that takes one on a spiritual journey through inspirational quotes. Though I have not read the book, this quote stood out to me due to the Susan Sontag reading on photography that we discussed this week.

Although a dense reading, we managed to have a rich discussion on the arguments Sontag presents about the proliferation of photography. What I want to do in this post however is to engage in a sort of exercise derived of both her critiques (or at least the critiques of others that she refers to) and her claims on what photography can do.

This week we visited the Palais Ideal du Facteur Cheval in Hauterives, where the sand castle like structure hand built by a small town postman has withstood the test of time for over a century. The castle can be described as having been built with no architectural rules, with each facade boasting a new and interesting theme that is telling of a man well traveled through his work. In many ways the Palais can not fully be described in words. It is as busy in its design as it is simple in its size. Not like the usual castles that boast moats and several acres, this palace sits in the middle of a courtyard no longer than a football field.

I can go on and on about the Palais but back to Susan Sontag. Whilst I can admit that I have done a terrible job taking pictures of the places we’ve visited (both out of forgetfulness and a desire to be present), I saw this oversight as a great opportunity to engage in a world counter to the one alluded to in Sontag’s writing. A world in which we take the words of people as the are and photographs don’t accompany everything said. I could be completely lying when I say that one side of the Palais boasts three large male looking figures that look very much like the Thing 1 and Thing 2 characters from the Dr.Seuss writings. That at the very top of the castle is a winding slide that transports you into the next wing of the castle riddled with Arabic writing. I can also be making a bigger deal out of the rock that began the journey of this palace and say that its is a behemoth of a rock resembling the head of the villain from Spy Kids. What would it take for you to believe me? Visiting yourself, or perhaps something simpler, like a picture?

Sontag presents many arguments which include her claim that photography establishes a chronic voyeuristic relationship between people and photographs. She states that in efforts to record (through photography) one cannot intervene and those who seek to intervene cannot faithfully record. Does a desire to commemorate this trip with my less than mediocre photograph of the Palais Ideal make it less than ideal, as its name suggests? Or does my desire to be present and not intervene disrupt the relevance of a building that is telling of both time and importance; serving as a place of pilgrimage to artistic geniuses like?

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that photography/photographs, like many things are only as important as we make them to be. The human ability to create measures of importance applies as much to photography as it did to artistic portraits, motion pictures, and any advent technology that we can think of. And so with this blog post that has no photograph, you can take my words regarding the Palais as they are or, you can determine the role a picture would’ve played in their establishing their credibility.

-V.T.T