The Telescreen and Camera Lucida

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the true nature of observation, whether through the lens of a camera or the "All Seeing Eye" of a telescreen, depends on the viewpoint of the voyeur, a situation that clearly plays a major role in both "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "Camera Lucida". The paper points out that Barthes' camera lucida as a mechanical device also projects an image onto a flat surface, much like Orwell's electrical telescreens that project images through a monitor. The author feels that the telescreen and photography eliminate time and distance through its immediacy and "in-your-face" projections, just as, today, a video camera or internet "webcam" perform the same function.

From the Paper:

"For Barthes, photographs were triggers that brought out the inner light of thinking and interpretation. In his book, he discusses the intense debate about images, particularly those related to photography, and their role in the development of cultural theory and history. This is quite similar to Orwell's use of images on his telescreens which projected
not only the images associated with "Big Brother" but also those of the culture of Oceania and the government's efforts to supervise all the activities of its citizens. In Camera Lucida, Barthes offers the suggestion that photographs contain an "aura" which reflects lost memories. He mentions that while studying a photo of his mother as a young child, "standing a little back (and) facing the camera," he accidentally discovered the true essence of his long-dead mother. This photograph, as he put it, was a telescope that brought distance and time into reality while also doing the same for his mother."

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