عنوان

Idolatry and the Civil Covenant of Photography:

Number

LA113374

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Idolatry and the Civil Covenant of Photography:

General Material Designation

[Article]

Other Title Information

On the Practice of Exhibiting Images of Suffering, Degradation, and Death

First Statement of Responsibility

Roger I. Simon

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

Exhibiting perpetrator photographs of suffering and death presents a series of curatorial problems for museums and galleries. Unlike photojournalist images taken to inform a social conscience, the initial creation and circulation of such photographs have historically been implicated in the violence they depict. Beyond skepticism as to photography's capacity to arouse a moral impulse, exhibitions of perpetrator photographs have been criticized for promoting voyeurism and extending suffering through the reiteration of images of human degradation. I consider how a problem central to Jewish theology might speak to such curatorial concerns, specifically the question of what constitutes the practice of idolatry. In this context I explore issues related to the ethics of visuality, developing the implications of Leora Batnitzky's reading of Franz Rosenzweig's cultural writings for my own concerns regarding the museological practice of public history. Exhibiting perpetrator photographs of suffering and death presents a series of curatorial problems for museums and galleries. Unlike photojournalist images taken to inform a social conscience, the initial creation and circulation of such photographs have historically been implicated in the violence they depict. Beyond skepticism as to photography's capacity to arouse a moral impulse, exhibitions of perpetrator photographs have been criticized for promoting voyeurism and extending suffering through the reiteration of images of human degradation. I consider how a problem central to Jewish theology might speak to such curatorial concerns, specifically the question of what constitutes the practice of idolatry. In this context I explore issues related to the ethics of visuality, developing the implications of Leora Batnitzky's reading of Franz Rosenzweig's cultural writings for my own concerns regarding the museological practice of public history.

Date of Publication

2010

Physical description

46-56

Title

IMAGES

Volume Number

4/1

International Standard Serial Number

1871-8000

Roger I. Simon

Call Number

10.1163/187180010X547639

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y