Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/08/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I don't think it's a folk tale, although I don't have the source at hand. There are social satirical cartoons that appeared in the French press which poke fun at the fact that it took the public some time to "get" the images they saw in early Daguerreotypes, (ie that they were representations of stuff out here in the world was not immediately obvious until they were taught how to decode by a peer). Interesting because they were already visually literate enough to appreciate images reproduced in the press. Additionally, you yourself were likely taught this skill. Kids need to have the correspondences between a 2d image and reality pointed out to them repeatedly before they "get" it as well. It's a fascinating process to watch and/or participate in. Grab a grandchild and try it out. Two additional notable things about this learning process: It works best when pictures of the parents are used first and, once mastered, the learning process itself is entirely internalized. No one remembers that it is an acquired skill and not something that seems entirely self evident. -Lew Schwartz On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 10:34 AM, George Lottermoser <imagist3 at mac.com>wrote: > I'd love to see an actual source for this oft repeated folk tale. > I read a good deal of Mead in college; and don't recall coming across this > "report." > Nor can I find any documentation of it; except as repeated in photo > discussions. > > I question its veracity due to ancient cave art; as well as the level of > abstraction, coupled with a sophisticated sense of proportion, found in > aboriginal artifacts all around the world. > > Can anyone help with citing a Mead source for this legend? > > a note off the iPad, George > > On Aug 14, 2013, at 7:43 AM, lrzeitlin at aol.com wrote: > > > When Margaret Mead showed Tahitian natives black and white photographs > of themselves and their village, they rotated the photos this way and that, > shook their heads, and handed them back. "Nice designs", they said, "but > what are they?" Mead then realized that photographs were such abstractions > that only long experience enables their interpretation. > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >