Abstract
André Kertész’s photography “Blind Musician”, taken in 1921 in Abony, Hungary, fascinated Polish writer Andrzej Stasiuk to such extend that he finally undertook a series of journeys – including the one to Abony – in search of the hidden meaning of the space from the picture. His obsession led eventually to the emergence of “On the Road to Babadag”, published in 2004. In this travel book, Stasiuk not only includes the photograph and its description, but most importantly he creates a form that resembles a catalogue of freeze frames or a photo album. Therefore, it seems relevant to examine the functioning of this text/image device and, especially, the transfer of the content of the Kertész’s image, immediately available to the observer and confined to two visual dimensions, into literature – a medium that uses words and unveils its substance over time. Hence, the aim of our paper is to analyse the intricate relationship between text and image in “On the Road to Babadag” on a formal level (using the theory of Roland Barthes), as well as a philosophical implications of his decisions (referring to work of Gaston Bachelard). We proceed with a detailed examination of the means used by Stasiuk to represent elements of Kertész’s photography, such as framing, light, space, characters and even the moment the photograph was taken. We show that, in order to realize his project, Stasiuk crossed not only cultural and national boundaries, but he also went beyond the limitations of his art.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
STASIUK, KERTESZ, PHOTOGRAPHY, LITERATURE
