What is a Punctum in Street Photography?
The punctum for me is the woman’s face on the left.
I first heard the word punctum at the Miami Street Photography Festival last December. I keep talking about that event because it made such a big impression on me. For the most part, prior to the Festival, I was the only street photographer that I knew except within the online community. My world really opened up in December.
Punctum was casually tossed out in some conversation, but I was immediately drawn to both the word and the concept. It is such a cute word. A punctum is the little, unexpected extra in a photo. It is the face or the hand or the expression or the animal that you did not notice as you took the picture. It is simultaneously never the subject and entirely the subject. A punctum for me may not necessarily be a punctum for you.
Photo by Ana Lucia Ciffoni. Used with permission. You can see Ana’s Instagram gallery at @anaciffoni. The punctum in this picture for me is the peaceful expression of the subject. The faces of the women in the background border on scowls. It took me some time to realize this, but once I did, the picture changed for me from a pleasant portrait to a story.
The buzz killer in writing this blog was finding the considerable philosophical weight and history that this seemingly random word carries. Here it is, in a nutshell.
Photo by Eric Pouchin. Used with permission. You can see Eric’s Instagram gallery at @pouchinov. The punctum in this picture, for me, is the ear. It is so unexpected, that I really cannot stop looking at it. Eric may have been intentional with this as this photo is a double negative.
In 1980, the French literary theorist and philosopher, Roland Barthes published a book called Camera Lucida. His mother had died. I speculate that he was going through pictures taken of her and, given that he was a philosopher, got to thinking about the nature and essence of photography.
Photo by Deborah Sofferman. Used with permission. You can see Deborah’s Instagram gallery at @peoplelookingat and her website at PeopleLookingAt.com. The punctum for me is the totally unexpected sliver of face that shows through the glass.
The book develops two concepts: the studium and the punctum. The studium is the element that creates interest in the photograph. It shows the intention of the photographer, although that intention is reinterpreted by the viewer through a cultural, linguistic or political lens. It is what causes us to “like” a picture, but not necessarily remember it. The punctum is a second element that jumps out at the viewer because it has evoked personal feelings of the viewer. It is that bit of rare detail that causes us to “love” a photo instead of merely liking it. While every image has a studium, not every image has a punctum. Also, as I mentioned, a punctum for me, might not be the same punctum for you. Punctums account for the phenomena of someone loving a photo that has no effect on you whatsoever.
Photo by Helen Sampson. Used with permission. You can see Helen’s Instagram gallery at @sampson8343. The graphics are interesting in this picture, but the man on the bicycle makes the picture for me.
The single strength I had as a mathematician was the ability to find outlier data. I guess as an extension of that, I also tend to notice small, unexpected details in photographs. They are often the punctums for me. In addition, I tend to lock onto body language and facial expressions in photos, so a small detail there can be a punctum for me. I think the examples describe best what a punctum is for me, because truly, in this case, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Photo by Susan Schiffer. Used with permission. You can see Susan’s Instagram gallery at @susan.schiffer. The punctum for me, in no uncertain terms, is the tangle of the little girl’s feet.
Exercise
Do you have pictures, or have you seen pictures, where there is a punctum that draws you in?