Using the Concepts of Studium and Punctum to Create your Photos
Are you still searching for a method, a technique to make your photos interesting, to give them meaning?
Whether you are a beginner, advanced, or seasoned photographer, I am convinced that you are always seeking new creative ways.
In this article, I invite you to discover how to use the concepts of studium and punctum to create photos that reflect your style.
I will share with you a simple method to apply them when taking your photos.
Let yourself be guided.
This article will help you understand how to implement a new tool in your photography toolbox. By implementing it, you will make your photos even more interesting and instill in them true meaning.
Preamble
Since I have been working as a professional photographer, I have had to deal with various demands and constraints.
Firstly, I have to sell my photos because it is my sole source of income. I always need to understand what my clients are looking for and why.
Additionally, I have to optimize the time spent in the field, as the majority of my professional activity involves marketing and sales, which can be time-consuming.
Lastly, I want to create photos that reflect who I am and bring me joy. I chose this profession out of passion, and it guides my life choices. Photography is the primary interest in my life. I also love learning, creating, and sharing. These different demands compel me to seek new methods and innovative techniques to create new collections of art photos while being efficient in my work.
When I finished my 10th reading of Roland Barthes' "Camera Lucida," I wondered how these concepts would serve me in my daily activities. It is a challenging book to read and understand. After this final reading, I waited a few days, reviewed my notes, delved into some passages, and suddenly everything became clear.
Some of the concepts Roland Barthes developed would help strengthen my photographic and artistic approach. I finally understood that there was nothing new in this book; it is just a different way of seeing and presenting photography. That is what I will share with you now.
"Camera Lucida" by Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes is the author of a theoretical book on photography titled "Camera Lucida," published in 1980 by Gallimard-Le Seuil.
In this book, Barthes argues that a photo elicits a reaction (emotional, sentimental, etc.) in him if you remove comments related to technique, reportage, reality, and art.
"Camera Lucida" consists of 48 chapters that offer a reflection on the image and its status in photography.
Roland Barthes, a French semiotician and intellectual, presents an analysis of images in the book. The language and text structures make it challenging to understand the meaning of certain concepts, requiring multiple readings.
What I took away from my 10th reading of this book is that Roland Barthes proposes a specific approach to photography with an analytical framework for photos, often focusing on portraits. It is as if wildlife photography, natural landscapes, or underwater photography do not exist.
While this book has been extraordinarily successful and become a reference in image analysis, it is important to consider it as one photographic approach, among others. Its merit lies in its existence.
According to Roland Barthes, photography can be approached from three angles:
- The operator: the photographer.
- The spectator: the one looking at the photo.
- The spectrum: the subject. It does not evoke the scene, only the subject.
He also distinguishes two characteristics:
- Studium, representing the interest of the photo based on the viewer's culture.
- Punctum, the elusive element of the photo that touches the spectator.
In this book, Barthes also explores the time inscribed in the photo: that it was.
Studium and punctum are two characteristics for critiquing a photo. Keep in mind that Barthes, not being a photographer, considers the operator (photographer) unnecessary for the success of a photo.
His priority is given to the spectator and the spectrum (subject). You may not agree with this photographic approach, but as you will see later in the article, some interesting ideas will help you analyze photos better.
In this article, I will not dissect Roland Barthes' book. I will simply discuss the two concepts of studium and punctum for direct application to your photos.
The Studium
In his book "Camera Lucida," Roland Barthes discusses studium. Here is what he says:
What I feel for certain photos is a kind of average affect, almost a training. I did not see, in French, a word that simply expressed this kind of human interest, but in Latin, I believe, this word exists: it is studium, which does not mean immediately, "study," but application to a thing, taste for someone, a kind of general, eager investment, certainly, but without particular acuity.
Roland Barthes.
In simple terms, consider studium as a scientific analysis seeking the meaning hidden in photographs. It is what is shareable among people with the same culture.
Studium is a Latin word that means to study, eager to learn, enthusiasm, ardor, interest.
Studium is related to the information conveyed by the photograph and the meanings it accommodates.
Consider studium as what a photograph is in itself—all the elements that touch you when you look at it. Studium is the interest you have in a photograph, what makes you like it or not.
When you study the studium of a photo, you try to identify what the photographer wanted to convey. You may interpret it as you wish, agreeing or not, but you understand the photographer because you are educated. You have an education, training that allows you to analyze a photo emotionally or sentimentally.
Studium appeals to your knowledge, who you really are, your history, personality, and soul.
What you need to remember is that the studium defined by Roland Barthes concerns your motivations for liking or disliking a photo. These motivations are influenced by your general culture, education, relationships with others, qualities, flaws, and personality.
If you read "Camera Lucida," you will notice that the examples chosen by the author relate to people and documentary photos. There are no examples of natural landscapes, wildlife photos, or underwater photos.
However, studium is a concept that can be applied to all photographic themes. Personally, I can be equally moved by a bucolic landscape that reminds me of my childhood in the northern French countryside. I can also be touched by photos of miners that evoke the atmosphere of the mining region near Lens and Liévin.
What is interesting is that studium has nothing to do with photographic technique or semiotic analysis of an image. Studium simply appeals to what you feel.