See/Saw compiles observational musings on over 40 photographers plus reflections on the writings of Roland Barthes and John Berger. Erudite, entertaining and thought-provoking this book is a veritable library of looking. It introduces unheralded imagemakers that capture imagination while sending readers into deep research on the plethora of historical and contemporary references evoked. 

In this book group, Geoff Dyer discusses, among other things:

Talking about meaning versus talking about the photographs 

Conjuring images in words

Writing that combines the critical with the creative

Language everyone thinks they can speak

Ability of photos to illuminate consciousness

Instability and ever-expanding nature of photographic history 

The aesthethic purity of Walker Evans

What constitutes signiifers now

A photograph as memorial

Referenced in the episode

The Ongoing Moment

The Street Photography of Garry Winogrand

On Photography NYT, The Mysteries of Our Family Snapshots, January 2017

The Suffering of Light by Alex Webb

Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes

Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960

Believing is Seeing Errol Morris

Antonioni’s Blow Up

Geoff Dyer Website | Instagram

Engage with J. Sybylla Smith  https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith