Durant invites us into a fluid free fall with his intentionally sequenced interplay of history, ideas and first-hand knowledge in text and image. Incubating his idea of how still images capture physical, emotional, social, cultural and political states grew to cross geography and time. Evocative and insightful this book is a symphony of authentic voices echoing the harsh and exciting realities of lived experience and the wilds of our collective imaginings. 

In this book group, Mark Alice Durant discusses, among other things:

The semi-conscious states which feed creativity

Photo as a porous and democratic medium 

Performance as a portal, able to renegotiate social contracts

Transgressing the specific to the symbolic

The beauty and elegance of a rigorous photo

How we see our past, photographically

The power of exclusion to push innovation and creativity

Referenced in the episode

Teju Cole, “A Photograph Never Stands Alone”

Walter Murch, In The Blink of An Eye

Larry Sultan, “Pictures from Home”

William Pope L. in conversation at The Walker Arts Center

Marco Breuer by Mark Alice Durant

Sigalit Landau, “DeadSee” (2005)

Mark Alice Durant, “Running, Falling, Flying, Floating, Crawling”

Mark Alice Durant Website | Instagram

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