Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth
In 2017, Iowa, a book of photographs by American artist Nancy Rexroth first published in 1977 and long out of print, came out in a revised and augmented edition. In this book originally conceived as a photographic evocation of the author’s childhood memories, Rexroth photographed in various Ohio loc...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2019-12-01
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Series: | Sillages Critiques |
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Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/8156 |
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author | Jean-Marc Victor |
author_facet | Jean-Marc Victor |
author_sort | Jean-Marc Victor |
collection | DOAJ |
description | In 2017, Iowa, a book of photographs by American artist Nancy Rexroth first published in 1977 and long out of print, came out in a revised and augmented edition. In this book originally conceived as a photographic evocation of the author’s childhood memories, Rexroth photographed in various Ohio locations (as well as a few other Midwestern places) what she named Iowa, after the State where she used to visit relatives as a child. She worked with a rudimentary plastic toy camera, a Diana, causing systematic optical distortions. As a result, Iowa supposedly traces an experience in a time and a space when / where it never actually took place. This article proposes to examine the specific circumstances for the viewer’s reception of this enigmatic object as it indirectly questions Barthes’s famous idea that a photograph can only record something « that has been ». By becoming interchangeable, Ohio and Iowa lead to a re-owning of what endlessly escapes photographic capture (taking place / taking a picture). Conversely, republishing the book in a different context and a new form somehow re-enacts the initial project of photographing the past. |
format | Article |
id | doaj-art-ca8001f2a38149e5a604602169a52767 |
institution | Kabale University |
issn | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
publisher | Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" |
record_format | Article |
series | Sillages Critiques |
spelling | doaj-art-ca8001f2a38149e5a604602169a527672025-01-30T13:47:05ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022019-12-012710.4000/sillagescritiques.8156Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy RexrothJean-Marc VictorIn 2017, Iowa, a book of photographs by American artist Nancy Rexroth first published in 1977 and long out of print, came out in a revised and augmented edition. In this book originally conceived as a photographic evocation of the author’s childhood memories, Rexroth photographed in various Ohio locations (as well as a few other Midwestern places) what she named Iowa, after the State where she used to visit relatives as a child. She worked with a rudimentary plastic toy camera, a Diana, causing systematic optical distortions. As a result, Iowa supposedly traces an experience in a time and a space when / where it never actually took place. This article proposes to examine the specific circumstances for the viewer’s reception of this enigmatic object as it indirectly questions Barthes’s famous idea that a photograph can only record something « that has been ». By becoming interchangeable, Ohio and Iowa lead to a re-owning of what endlessly escapes photographic capture (taking place / taking a picture). Conversely, republishing the book in a different context and a new form somehow re-enacts the initial project of photographing the past.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/8156autobiographyAmerican photographyNancy Rexrothtaking placeDiana camera |
spellingShingle | Jean-Marc Victor Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth Sillages Critiques autobiography American photography Nancy Rexroth taking place Diana camera |
title | Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth |
title_full | Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth |
title_fullStr | Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth |
title_full_unstemmed | Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth |
title_short | Dans un Etat proche de l’Ohio : IOWA de Nancy Rexroth |
title_sort | dans un etat proche de l ohio iowa de nancy rexroth |
topic | autobiography American photography Nancy Rexroth taking place Diana camera |
url | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/8156 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT jeanmarcvictor dansunetatprochedelohioiowadenancyrexroth |