Photography for Tomáš. Thomas‘ magnifications
In this paper, I demonstrate the transcultural dialogue which is happening on the basis of partial problems of both russian and non-russian art. This dialogue happens in a historic and a „spatial“ context, which, as a phenomenon, should correspond to the future of geocultural hyperthinking. A huge tradition of antique culture, together with apolonian clarity, has found its own continuation in older classical and modern russian art. The holy trinity of Andrej Rublov and the Mason by the futurist D. Rurljuk serve as a great example. In the movie „Blowup“, by Michelangelo Antonioni, the various connotations of the protagonist’s name – Thomas- have been mostly left ignored. There is a plethora of options to choose from – ranging from Thomas Aquinas up to associations with the biblical figure of the doubting Thomas. Furthermore, through paying my respects via photography to an important art critic – Tomas Strauss – I took upon myself to make use of this paper to try and ponder the nature of photography per se, in the context of its various types and its place within the art genres. Humans are able to perceive an exemplar stability, or photographic affinity, of the world, as we can conclude from the metaphor: „Humans are beings inbetween God and a frog“. Frogs can not react to static impulses, only humans can. A cinematograph, as a technical principle, appeared only after the invention of photography, but as an innate way of seeing the world predates photography by ages.
Key Words:
Art. Blowup (movie). Cinematograph. Michelangelo Antonioni. Photography. Theology. Tomáš Štrauss.
PAUKOV, M.: Photography for Tomáš. In European Journal of Media, Art and Photography, 2018, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 76-85. ISSN 1339-4940.