PUNCTUM

Reflections on Photography

“Punctum,” a term coined by Roland Barthes in his book Camera Lucida, is a detail in a photograph that pricks or bruises the viewer—or as Barthes wrote, “It is what I add to the photograph and what is nonetheless already there.” In the context of the catalog from the exhibition Punctum: Reflections on Photography at the Salzburger Kunstverein (2014), we are asked to reflect on the phenomenon of the image that relates to its referents but at the same time escapes it. Organized by curator Seamus Kealy, 50 photographs including a variety of work from landscapes and portraits to the indexing of objects and conceptual photography by photo-based artists from Carleton Watkins to Moyra Davey and Kader Attia are reproduced in full-bleed color spreads with short texts by the artists, writers and curators who chose the work. An introductory essay by curator Boris Groys eloquently explores the theoretical concerns behind the exhibition.

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