‘Words and Photos: Literature and Photography’ Are two pendulums or like coffee and cake?

From June 4 to 6 the ‘VII Discussions on Photography’ took place as part of PhotoEspaña 2009 in Madrid, Spain. Well, in fact there wasn’t much discussion. The event – except for its delicious coffee and cake buffet – was rather similar to a university lecture: Important professors gave captivating talks about interesting things (There’s really no irony here!).
Unfortunately there wasn’t that much connection between the subjects of the talks. Much was said about photography and about literature, Roland Barthes was discussed, Susan Sontag mentioned, Walter Benjamin, too, even on slightly altered personal philosophies was touched. From their wealth of experience – if not disturbed by some translation problems – the speakers, for example Ferdinando Scianna, offered: ‘photography is reading not writing’ and ‘photography is a tale, unlike painting, for example’, Federico Campbell even surprisingly told us that ‘photographic fiction does not exist’. Hm, OK. But why? I really do hope it’s not presumptuous to expect discussions being part of a photo festival to help one – with of course less experience than the speakers – who is still working in the broad field of photography to advance in the understanding of his field by giving him reasons and conclusions and not just separate facts and phrases!? There were already a lot of these during break at the buffet…

‘The best of all novels couldn’t compete with our family album.’, Günter Grass was quoted by Antonio Ansón in his listing of bibliographical references. Philippe Ortel was the first speaker to make us think if Grass was right. Mr. Ortel talked about autobiographies as a possible joint application of photography and literature. Being an intimate act photography may reveal the truth about family members and their relations – Marianne Hirsch mentioned before – but why do photographers write their autobiography, as Jane M. Rabb later depicted, and why aren’t they photographing it, if Grass is right?!
Mr. Ortel explanation was that private photography is ‘locking up’. Even if we still weren’t able – after soon to be 200 years of photography history – to decide if ordinary photography does exist or not – because we can’t distinguish it, as Claude Ambroise said – we surely can agree with Mr. Ortel that by looking at photographs we miss the ‘virtualities’ of the moment we took the picture of. We lose the possibilities of the moment the picture can’t contain. That’s why ‘photography is a disappointment’ (Like maybe a speaker who only reads his text starring at a paper in front of him).
But does Literature work better? Was Günter Grass wrong? Aren’t we losing ‘virtualities’, too, maybe even more, when we try to retell an event in words? – In the author’s humble opinion: Yes. Look at this text it’s the best example! – Unfortunately Mr. Ortel couldn’t answer this question. He said he’d need some time to think.

Maybe as a unity photography and literature are able to provide more of these virtualities. Fumetti, or photonovels, were created at the same time as cinema. Jan Baetens presented in an inspiring talk this interesting but poorly considered art form. Traditionally fumetti copied cinema. Today they copy literature, have new narrative models and text may even be absent. One doesn’t even know any more if it’s photography or a novel. They seem to be the first true example of photography and literature as one, a symbiosis, and not just as two media standing next to each other in one art form. But still we don’t know what literature is capable of what photography isn’t. And vice versa. What can they provide? Why do fumetti sometimes seem to work and sometimes not? Can literature and photography complete and strengthen each other or – when forced into one art form – are they taking each other’s energy and strength away, bouncing back and forward and against eacht other, like two pendulums of a Newton’s Cradle? What about photo books which appear not to sell if there isn’t any text in it, because people looking at it in passing got the impression of having seen everything, as Gérard Macé claimed, and what are the rules of great book or magazine design – Alberto Bianda presented – and the interaction of photos and text in it?!
All these questions aren’t just hollow and technical. Art is based on technique. You’re not able to create something if you don’t know the technique to do it. Scientists working on this subject since years could have given us some more conclusions or at least could have told us if there’s no answer to the question: So we won’t spend too much time thinking about it. Due to that Alberto Gracía-Alix’ talk was the perfect closure and resume of the Encuentros PHE: He proved that of course words and photos even standing next to each other may create something strong and delicious. His poetic explanations of his photographs helped us not to be so helpless with his vast photos. – Maybe that’s the hint!? – The image keeps a secret the word is developing, he said, and he seems to be right. But why and how and what we have to do to get there we couldn’t find out this weekend before we all left again for coffee and cake.