Punctum

Roland Barthes

The meaning of punctum is a small distinct point that catches your eye, like your drawn to it, or in the case of photography the punctum would be what turns an ordinary image into a great one personally to you.

Roland Barthes’ book Camera Lucinda, is his only book dedicated entirely to photography, puts across the theory of punctum as a philosophical point indicating that by denoting the wounding, personally touching detail which establishes a direct relationship with the object or person within it will give the image another dimension into the mental of the onlooker rather than the photograph being only in the physical as a piece of paper. While Barthes elaborates that the concept of the punctum is to focus on the personal and emotional experience of the photograph as physically connected to its subject.

To me personally I find that the punctum of an image does give the image more feel and personality even if it was something that makes the image less perfect as it gives it some character in return. Such as in the image above by Guy Bourdin my favourite bit would have to be the slight reflection of the models’ hand’s on the shiny wall as it follows the body from the mirror above giving the viewer a fuller image.

Research:

Barthes, R. ‘Camera Lucinda’ (1993)

http://www.jameslomax.com/words/275/punctum