Sontag & Surrealism in (nostalgia)

 

In (nostalgia), which narrational dialogues and photographic images exemplify Sontag's theory that "Though an event has come to mean, precisely, something worth photographing, it is still ideology (in the broadest sense) that determines what constitutes an event. There can be no evidence, photographic or otherwise, of an event until the event itself has been named and characterized"? (18-19) What further points about interpretation, knowledge, and image production does Frampton make in the unusual and witty manner through which he demonstrates this theory?

In this quote, Sontag is saying that unless the photographer tells us what a picture represents, we as viewers are inclined to form our own stories as to what a picture may be telling us. Throughout the movie (nostalgia), the narrator describes the image before the viewers see it. This allows the viewer to project his or her own experiences and ideologies onto a photograph before seeing it. Then, when the true photograph is revealed, the viewer is usually taken by surprise because it is different from what they had imagined. A prime example of a photograph that had this effect in the movie is the one of the two toilets that Frampton described as the crucifixion of Christ. With the description being given, one would probably think the picture was captured in a church rather than a bathroom. Another example of this quote in the movie was the picture of the man picking fruit from the ground. This was a photograph not taken by Frampton, so Frampton makes up his own story to describe the events in the picture. This is an excellent example of how if one is not given information about the picture from the photographer, they are inclined to project their own opinions and beliefs onto the photograph in order to describe the event. Another picture to consider is that of the moldy spaghetti. Because the picture is in black and white, it is difficult to tell that the spaghetti is moldy. In fact, it just looks like spaghetti spread out on a plate for seemingly no reason at all. It is only once the photographer tells the viewer that the picture is of moldy spaghetti on the 18^th day of it being out in the open, that the viewer can understand what the picture is actually showing.