In the reading Benjamin discusses the change in perception of art due to the affects of the introduction of Photography and Film. Benjamin starts out by emphasizing on the paradigm shift of our way of living, where it can be perceived as lazy in the sense of artistic perception and our process of creation.
Benjamin goes on speaking about how modernity has affected the work of art and how it is related to history and the cult. Film and Photography relates to the modern age.
The essay highlights and drives on the loss of “aura”, in other words the originality or authenticity, due to the introduction of mechanical and mass reproduction.
Benjamin explains that only works of art that have not been reproduced are seen to contain a true “aura”. In a comparison of painting to photography he states that painting is seen as authentic due to its artistic process while a photograph is merely a copy of a scene that was taken in one snapshot or capture what I call a frame of someone’s time.
The “aura” that is lost in film and photography has created a shift in history and the cult process, the lost of “aura” is the lost of copyright or singular authority of the artwork.
Nevertheless, Film and Photography makes up for this because it brought a tension between new ways of perception and the “aura”.
They both have been beneficial due to the involvement of the masses and how they have changed how one may interpret the narrative in a completely different way than a painting can. Photography and Film focus on something specific while leaving out certain parts while a painting strives to interpret something as a whole. Film is seen as an extreme new means of perception in regards to the “moving image”. Watching a moving image challenges the structure of perspective and the relevance and importance of “aura” and also introduces the notion of the viewer being subjective to the film. Photography and film focuses on the dynamics of distraction and deception as a new way of perception and challenge the viewer.
Walter Benjamin, therefore, sees the concept of “aura” no longer relevant. Film and Photography has liberated the masses from the stigma created around art, where it was seen as reserved and cultist. Mechanical Reproduction has influenced mass consumption and now everyone can enjoy works of art in the art gallery, the cinema or the museum. It has introduced a new appreciation for art and the artistic process along with a new way of perceiving and identifying art.
