Narcissistic Vampires: Within the limits of photographic representation

Abstract

Before the social networks, Instagram and Pinterest, before the overexposure of our daily lives (either live or changing space-time), the documentary value of an image was subject of fear, due to the novelty of the invention, but also of admiration, because of the magic of the snapshot. As happened with pictorial portraits in which monarchs, still lifes, war exploits or mythological scenes were depicted on canvases, reactions to a photographic image have always depended on the use of the photo and the time in which it has been taken. But, the emergence of the camera meant a change in the ways of seeing, looking and projecting. The snapshots were democratized, only a camera was necessary. Thus, the historical advance that photography meant as a scientific and documentary element is still evident, palpable, observable. Photography helps us show how we see what we see, it gives us recognition and knowledge, memory and identity. Using the essay by Joan Fontcuberta, El beso de Judas: fotografía y verdad (2002) as the thrust of the investigation, we briefly historical and semiotic review the uses that have been given to photography from the daguerreotype until now and its influence on the visual education of society.