For this fourth Thought Piece in a series where I explore the ten signifiers in the Object-Oriented Photography Onion Diagram, I have combined two constructs together – temporality and spatial persistence.  I am doing this for two reasons:  one that in my photographic practice the two constructs work together and complement each other and second, that in terms of the philosophies of Immanuel Kant (1992) and Martin Heidegger (1953) they both choose to link space and time, or being and time respectively, which confirms the inextricable link between time and space as being fundamental constructs of human existence.  Space, for Kant, is how we represent objects outside of ourselves whereas time is an inner sense of awareness.  Being, according to Heidegger is the “i-ness” or essence of mans’ existence whereas time provides the horizon and context for being.

In using the term temporality in the context of my photographic practice, I see it as me existing with other objects existing together over time  through what becomes the past, what is the present, and what will be the future.  I like the Google definition of temporality as:

“the state of existing within or having some relationship with time.”

Spatial Persistence is intrinsically linked with temporality and time.  It is about returning time after time to the same place, over different seasons, weather conditions, and with various goals to achieve.  It provides an ongoing context, increasing knowledge, and a sense of coming to know being over time.  It also provides a body of work over time, and one that can yield similarities and differences not necessarily known in the moment of presence and the point of capture, but on reflection and through comparison.  The construct of spatial persistence can be approached over short or long timeframes.  A period of a few days focused work or returning to take the “same” shot at different times of the year, or the same time of year over many years.  It is also possible that essence may reveal itself through the combination and juxtaposition of images taken overtime

I regularly return to the same locations in my practice and most of them I have been working in for a number of years.  I occasionally seek out new locations when I wish to develop or expand the artistic possibilities.  I also take similar walks near my home where I take iPhone images of the same scene.  Below is a collection of these images overtime.

Local Walk over Time

 

The View from my Window

In theory, temporality and spatial persistence combine to improve the possibility of becoming aware of being.  What I would like to achieve in practice is to increase my awareness of time and space such that being will spontaneously reveal itself – the realisation of being.

 

References

Heidegger, M. (1953). Being and Time. New York, State University of New York Press.

Kant, I. (1992). The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant. Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Press.