Photographic Dictionary

The Photographic Dictionary is dedicated to defining words through literal, figurative and personal meanings found in each photograph.

Quite an objective! In light of my research, this idea becomes quite intriguing (as I sit with drawings and photographs wondering how exactly to interpret them). In this case of the photographic dictionary, I am interested in two things:

a) What would happen if the text was removed?
b) How does everyone see each image and how could I know this interpretation?

The ideas inherent in this work remind me of the benefits of this.

Languid

Since being in Rwanda, I can't get the word languid out of my mind.

The people here are languid.

Well, some more than others. And I mean it the best possible way. The word itself has an elegance and gait that can only be considered peaceful. The way the word rolls off my tongue is the way the people move and interact. There is a word for this (when words equal something active), isn't there? I can't recall it right now. Something like onomatopoeia but not quite.

This languid quality is incredibly attractive and almost soothing (as opposed to the lazy definition above. With the amount of work these people do just to get by, I can hardly dub them lazy).

So the word of the week is languid . Try using it in a sentence.

Language is so beautiful and powerful.

Telling stories with type

I'm curious about how text holds authority. Of late, I've been reading Heidegger's What is Called Thinking? and J.L. Austin's book, How To Do Things With Words. Both these writers challenge some commonplace notions about how we interpret the information offered to us. In light of my curiosities about sustainability and the way it is revealed, these writings become interesting forays into some philosophical underpinnings of my research.


You can see this work in action by downloading the version that suits your operating system. Poetic and typographic delights.

We must guard against the blind urge to snatch at a quick answer in the form of a formula. (Heidegger)

Can saying making it so? (Austin)