Shooting the Past (BBC TV – 1999): Inside the Frame

Does an image contain a story? Or is it an instant in chaos that has no more substances than the crystals fixed on fading paper or in the pixels that exist only as long as an electric current flows?

Is a photograph ever true or real?

Does an image contain a story?  Or is it an instant in chaos that has no more substance than the crystals fixed on fading paper or in the pixels that exist only as long as an electric current flows?

Does it have no more substance than the viewer?  Is it a memory? Or is it simply a crack in the future past of some cosmic consciousness?

 

One thought on “Shooting the Past (BBC TV – 1999): Inside the Frame”

  1. Tony, I’d say every query you pose can be answered in the affirmative. Stpen Poliakoff’s celebrated BBS mini-series is one of the best things to come out of the UK in the past two deacdes. It’s a fascinating and suspenseful story within a story that link a fascinating series of individual stories that showcase the analytical and intellectual capacites of librarians. The final segment about the owner’s Irish grandmother was my favorites. The character development in the show is remarkable and the beauty of vintage still photography are not consiged to museum service, but rather are to be seen as portals to the past and how to preserve the tradition. The themes of historical preservation and ancestry are also examined here with acute clarity and there’s a liberal sprinkling of British humor.

    SHOOTING THE PAST is truly unforgettable.

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