I conceded, ultimately.
Gave the lecture.
Told what Barthes had said
About photographic portraiture.
'The portrait-photograph is a closed field of forces. Four image-repertoires intersect here, oppose and distort each other. In front of the lens, I am at the same time: the one I think I am, the one I want others to think I am, the one the photographer thinks I am, and the one he makes use of to exhibit his art.' (Barthes, R, 1982, Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, London: Jonathan Cape, 13)
A bit like life, really. Only, life is mostly artless. . .
The class didn't last long.
Image from (ed) Jay, B (1994) Some Rollicking Bull: Light Verse, and Worse, on Victorian Photography, Germany: Nazraeli Press
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