At the end of this post I have the link to the digital collection of portraits of the Marquis de Lafayette. We have discussed the importance of being able to hold and examine old books and text in person but do you think it is just as important with pictures? You can look up the pictures online and see the colors and detail but do you feel that having the work in person allows you to appreciate it more? http://digital.lafayette.edu/collections/lafayetteprints
I think that with pictures, as well as books, the experience is far different in person that viewing a photo of it online. The Mona Lisa is a widely celebrated work of art that almost everyone in the world is familiar with, but what a lot of people don’t know is how small the picture is in real life. Many first-time visitors of the Lourve are surprised by the Mona Lisa, and afterwards always comment on its size. Without witnessing the picture in real life, one would never know how large the picture actually is. It is also difficult to examine a picture in great detail through a screen – the details of the artist’s stroke are lost on the 2 dimension computer screen.
I am taking an art history class and the teacher always remarks on the fact that the slides she shows can not do the art works justice. It is great that we are able to learn from the slides as it would be impossible to transport every class to the actual sites, but the tactility and size of the works are most definitely lost.
I think most things in person are more powerful than pictures. Pictures only engage one of your senses–sight. Traveling to different cultures is more powerful than a brochure because a person not only sees a place, but smells, hears, tastes, etc. that culture. Likewise, holding a book, feeling the pages, etc. is more moving than just seeing a picture in a textbook.
Pictures are definitely convenient. They record instances which cannot reached due to time or space. A painting can be lost, but if there is a photo of it, then it can still be seen. Many people do not have the fortune to see the Mona Lisa itself, but can still recognize it when seen. However, the experience created from the actual object itself cannot be recorded. The experience is what allows the work to truly take effect and to define its existence, and that experience can only be gained by being around the actual work.
I think seeing the work in person is so important. One thing about electronic books is that they are not in color. When I first got my kindle, all of the pictures were in black/white and although electronic readers have improved they still can manipulate the way the image really looks and I honestly think that takes away from the writing as a whole.