Thursday, February 19, 2009

This Week's Snapshots:


A Great Documentary:

I was on the Netflix waiting list for months. But Standard Operating Procedure (2008) another mind-blowing documentary by Errol Morris was really worth it. S.O.P. is a documentary about the abuse of terrorists suspects at the in Abu Ghraib prison by U.S. forces. Like other Morris' documentaries, Standard Operating Procedure is an interview-based documentary, where the director's presence is reduced to his masterly jump-cuts and his composed camera close-ups. The film chases the photographs taken by prison guards and the interview follows the line of the investigation that took place after the notorious photos broke the story of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to the world. The director is successful in raising questions on the role of photography (or a photograph) in transformation of people’s belief.


The film made me think of photography and the agency that the medium has obtained through the history of photography. In the early days of its invention, photography was seen as the true representation of reality. This early reputation has been long broken: in early days of photography, one believed what one saw in a photograph, but this aspect of ‘photography equals reality’ was broken by the photographic trickeries that developed pretty much early in the history of the medium. But the Abu Ghraib prison photos, in a way touches on this early reputation, which saw photographic picture as an agent of reality, a true evidence of what happened and nothing matters outside the picture. Of course there are much more going on both on Morris’ documentary and the actual historic event of 2004. What appeals to me through the film and the historic event, is the fact that the investigation for the abuse of prisoners has stopped with the photographs: the investigator looks at each photograph and stops where the frame limits him. Perhaps that’s why the only people who got in trouble because of the abuse are the prison guards who were there in that frame.

I really didn’t mean to go on and on with my photo-philosophical thoughts, (The course I am taking on the early history of photography make me think like that), I just wanted to encourage you to see this brilliant documentary.


My Cool Backpack:
Another exciting but much less intellectual deed of mine last week was the purchase of my first backpack. Of course I had backpacks before, but they were all gifts. This is the first time I bought a backpack for myself. It is so spacious and very comfortable on shoulders. I love its design: it is a Golla design from Kolobags. And as you can see it is green; I don’t think I need to tell you about the Green color!



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do want one of these backbags!

Tameshk said...

Siavash Jan
I had 2 backpacks before but none of them had enough room for my stuff: I carry everything on my backpack like a Nomad!

So Golla came after I made sure my old backpacks are exhausted with combination of wear & tear.

I am really happy with it so, sorry that I really cannot offer my backpack to you! So my slogan for this backpack is this

"For a good backpack it is not that expensive & For a backpack with such a cool design it is cheap!"

jeerjeerak said...

It's a nice greenie:) you can call it greenpack!

مسعود said...

سلام دوست فکور من
به نظرم هوشمندانه مطلب کوله پشتی را به موضوع اصلی این پست اضافه کرده ای.خوانده ام که آلبر کامو به کمک تنی چند از نویسندگان پیشروی آنوقت فرانسه نشریه ای ،وزین و سنگین از هر حیث ،درآوردند ولی سه ماه بیشتر نپائید.شاید من اشتباه کرده ام. خودت بهتر میدانی .در هر دو صورت حاصل کار خیلی خوب است.
اگر یک روزی آمدی ایران و اگر ملاقاتی دست داد و اگر لنگه همین کیف را آورده باشی که به کسی بدهی چرا به من ندهی؟سه تا اگر با یک چرا میشه :بله.نه ؟ از ریاضیدان عزیز ما بپرس.شاد و موفق باشی

Tameshk said...

Jeerjeerak Joonam

Thanks; yes it is a Greenpack; with a very exciting and fresh feeling of green :D

Masoud Jan
I see your point. As you mentioned Keeping readers interested, is important for any written work; however I don't see Tameshk as a publication in the same way that a serious online magazine is serious I mean.

I usually separate different topics in one post so if someone is not interested in my philosophical gibberish they can easily go to the section they want. And as I said the Backpack part is less intellectual but none the less exciting for me!