What the story of photography tells is the mood and gaze of the subject. The combination of the subject's complete state of being, as captured by the facts of light, and the subject's particular state of neither life nor death, as brought about by time, allows photography to tell an atmosphere and gaze of the subject that no other narrative mode of expression can.
Of the five senses, we humans rely most on sight. Photography is an expression based on the senses and is able to reproduce the subject in his or her complete and unadulterated state. This means that a photograph can capture all the visual information about a subject, including its shape, size, and appearance. This completeness initially allows us to perceive the image as the subject in the real world. However, it exists in a special time frame that is neither life nor death, and it does not move of its own accord or under the influence of anything. In this way, we perceive that the image appears to be the subject, but it is not the subject. In this way, the projected image takes on a unique air, which becomes its atmosphere. Moreover, since the image exists in front of us as an image, but does not move, but rather confronts us, we feel as if we are being watched, and this remains as the gaze of the image.
Roland Barthes explains this atmosphere as follows. Atmosphere is that extraordinary thing in the world that leads one from the body to the soul, to the little soul (animula) of the individual, good in some people and bad in others. From this we can say that we are led from the body to the soul by the atmosphere of the subject. In other words, by looking at a photograph, we perceive the atmosphere and gaze of the subject it describes, and we may feel his soul.
Of the five senses, we humans rely most on sight. Photography is an expression based on the senses and is able to reproduce the subject in his or her complete and unadulterated state. This means that a photograph can capture all the visual information about a subject, including its shape, size, and appearance. This completeness initially allows us to perceive the image as the subject in the real world. However, it exists in a special time frame that is neither life nor death, and it does not move of its own accord or under the influence of anything. In this way, we perceive that the image appears to be the subject, but it is not the subject. In this way, the projected image takes on a unique air, which becomes its atmosphere. Moreover, since the image exists in front of us as an image, but does not move, but rather confronts us, we feel as if we are being watched, and this remains as the gaze of the image.
Roland Barthes explains this atmosphere as follows. Atmosphere is that extraordinary thing in the world that leads one from the body to the soul, to the little soul (animula) of the individual, good in some people and bad in others. From this we can say that we are led from the body to the soul by the atmosphere of the subject. In other words, by looking at a photograph, we perceive the atmosphere and gaze of the subject it describes, and we may feel his soul.
写真の物語が語るものは被写体の雰囲気とまなざしである。光が生む事実が写し出す被写体の完全なありのままの状態と時間がもたらす被写体の生でも死でもない特殊な状態が重なることで、写真は他の物語の表現様式にはない被写体の雰囲気とまなざしを語ることができる。
我々人間は五感の中で視覚に最も頼っている。写真はその感覚に基づいた表現であり、被写体を完全なありのままの状態で再現することができる。これはつまり、写真は被写体の形、大きさ、様子など、視覚的な情報を全て写し出せるということである。この完全性により、最初、我々は写し出された像を、現実世界にいる被写体として感じることができる。しかしながら、それは生でも死でもない特殊な時間軸の中に存在していおり、自分から、もしくは、何かに影響されて動くことはない。これにより、我々は、その像は被写体に見えるが、被写体ではないということを知覚する。そうすることで、写し出された像は独特の空気感を帯び、それが雰囲気となる。また、像として目の前に存在しているのにもかかわらず、それは動かず、自分と対峙していることから、我々はそれに見られているような感覚を覚え、これが像のまなざしとして残るのである。
この雰囲気というものについて、ロラン・バルトは以下のように説明している。「雰囲気というのは肉体から魂へ－ある人にあっては善良な、またある人にあっては性悪な、個人の小さな魂（animula）へと人を導く、この世の常ならぬものである。」このことから、我々は被写体の雰囲気を感じることで、その肉体から魂へと導かれると言える。つまり、我々は写真を見ることで、それが語る被写体の雰囲気とまなざしを知覚し、その魂を感じられるのではないか。
1. "light"
Photography utilizes light, the natural and visual language to tell a story.
2. "fact"
The complete factuality of photography expresses an aura of the subject.
3. "time"
By not retaining temporality, photography captures a unique state of the subject.
