For me, punctum and studium were harder to grasp in Barthes' language than in real life experience. The terms were much clearer to me when using this assignment to look through my family's photo archive to understand these themes in photography, and in the reaction to photography. Many pictures struck me. Those with me as a child in moments I wish to remember better, and those of my family in a culture that looked so different from my own. After looking through many pictures I had never seen, and some I had many times, I chose a picture to better understand punctium and studium with one I had seem many times growing up, as it hung on the wall in my house. It is a picture of my grandmother's (mother's mother) parents. The picture is dated in the 1920's and is a posed picture of the couple together.
Examining this photo is showing me its unique themes that draw me in and create interest in understanding a glimpse of the past. Through this project I hope to grow an even better understanding to the history of this photo and what was going on with my family in this moment. My grandmother and mother both look so similar to my great-grandmother, Angelina. This is striking to me in it's own way and relates me to this photo more than I can imagine. Although I've seen this photo almost everyday for my entire life, I already see it so differently. It is so perfect to me.
Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. New York: Hill and Wang, 1981. Print.
Hacking, Juliet. Photography: The whole Story. New York: Prestel, 2012. Print.