Interview with Angelina Loughlin
(Daughter of photographed couple)
Themes that I found to be prevalent in the interview were mystery and family. These themes emerged through questions like "why was this photo taken?" "what did these people feel about this photo?" and "how does this photo affect you personally?" The answers my grandmother provided led me to understand that not a lot is known about this photo, and that this photo is one of the closest ties we have to these family members.
However lightning-like it may be, the punctum has, more or less, a power of expansion- Barthes (45).
MysteryMy interview with the closest person to this picture has proven that the mystery that the photo elicits is in some way accurate to the mystery that it is. There is little known about the origins of the photo-- where it was taken, why it was taken, even the exact date it was taken. The reasoning behind the photo may remain unknown, however I find that this mystery lends to the elegance of the photo in it's own way. I almost don't want to know why they had it taken, or what they are thinking while lost in each other's gaze. Instead, I am left only to admire and appreciate the photo for what it has become now in my family. Another element of mystery are Ciro's crippled fingers. At first I thought they were missing, but my grandmother said they were permanently curled up due to WWI. My grandmother found mystery in Ciro's socks, as I previously stated, as she said they didm't match his often stern disposition.
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FamilyThroughout the interview the theme of family relations came up quite often. My grandmother spoke a lot about the fact that this photo, and a few others, are the only left of her parents, who both died before she was 18-- both from cancer. In this sense, the photo represents something else for her and for our family. This photograph is a family connection to the people we know little about, but directly share blood with. My grandmother also spoke about the style of the portrait in terms of what she knew about her parents. She refers to his "snazzy socks" that didn't always match his serious serious demeanor. My grandmother admired going back to these photos of her parents and recalling their personalities. She said it makes sense that he's sitting down in two of the three photos of them because he was always working so hard the rest of the time. or me, it is special to know that this picture is a sacred way for their daughter to remember them, though its been over fifty years since last seeing them.
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These are the other two photos of my great-grandparents on either side of the one that I studied. When I compared these three photo's of the same people, I was left with the same amount of mystery as before. Ciro seems just as stern in each photo, and Angelina's smile grows only a little wider in each one. These people are beautiful to me, and these photos make the themes of mystery and family from my original photo even more appealing. The photos left of the Sarracino's are all portraits and for me, all contain elements of studium and punctum. Together, these two additional photos help me to better understand the essence of the original photo that I studied.
Throughout my research on photography, and the photo specifically of my great-grand parents, I have come to a better understanding about what a photograph can actually do for a person. It can take you from your comfortable viewing atmosphere and transport you to a new place and time, or create emotional attachment. In further reading about the origin of portraits in Photography: The whole story and the theories of studium and punctum from Camera Lucida, I feel a closer connection to understanding not only the photo I studied of my great-grandparents, but of any other family photos I come across. I am able to find background within a picture and let punctum expand my mind past the photo, or to the "Blind field" as Barthes calls it (57). My research has also led me closer to my family members, both with those that I still have the opportunity to speak with, and those I can only admire through photography.