The Body and the Archive

Before reading this article by Alan Sekula I didn’t realize my ignorance of photography. My limited perspective on this medium is due to it’s pervasive nature in modern society. Photographic images are commonly understood to function as they are intended to function. They are used to represent reality and at an unconscious level they do. With the invention of photography a new realism was established. It was considered an indexical medium that was physically connected to its meaning: a true representation. This accounts for the use of photography for identification and categorization in legal systems. To verify identity through a photograph is a common practice. What is not commonly underswtood are the physical statistics that classify a person into a broader identity: a group that is predisposed to act in a specific way. When a person’s character is distinguished by physical attributes it is not science, but a confirmation of a biased social hierarchy.