The theatricality of the still image : parallels between photography and theatre

Abstract

"Photography has been, and is still, tormented by the ghost of painting. Yet it is not by painting that photography touches art, but by theatre" (Ronald Barthes, 1982, 31 ). According to Leo Divendal, author of 'The Fourth Wall', photography does not have to accept the analytic structure of the museum world (that is often based on an art historical tradition), in order to be placed in the domain of the arts. The inner connection with theatre is a more fruitful and authentic path in comprehending the medium and appreciating it on an artistic level. Once this path is crossed, it becomes recognizable that a good photo is primarily theatrical and as such is transparent. When this theatricality is ecstatic, it extorts authority from the spectator, without his losing sight of his own reality. This relationship between photo and spectator, the interaction between representation and reality (analogous to Brecht's idea about the relationship between public and theatre) is the theme of this dissertation. As a tool for analysis I shall be using semiology, with special reference to Ronald Barthes as the leading semiologist. I shall analyse and compare photographic pieces and theatrical performances as texts, in order to explore the connection held between photography and theatre.