40th Anniversary of Barthes’ La Chambre Claire (Camera Lucida)

French literary theorist and philosopher, Roland Barthes’ book, La chambre Claire: Note sur la photographie, was published in 1980, just two months before his death. Barthes was not a photographer, yet his work is considered to be an important early effort in photography criticism. The book considers how photography impacts the spectator as well as the object recorded, suggesting that some of the effects of the print may be so personally induced that explanation cannot be achieved using language or cultural understandings.

Barney Britton, Senior Editor of DPReview, wrote an excellent, short review of this book.

Bessie Blitch, 15 years old. Sewing curtains on machine at Boutwell, Fairclough & Gold, 274 Summer Street Extension. (Mr. Fitzgerald, Manager.) Location: Boston, Massachusetts. Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer. 1917 January 29. https://lccn.loc.gov/2018677985