"Upon the Horizon" by Saleh Hamdouni.. When the Camera Becomes Philosophy

SadaNews - Is the photograph merely a fleeting documentation of reality? Or is it an open text that participates in its production and deconstruction? In an age where our world is inundated with images, the new book "Upon the Horizon in Photography" by researcher and photographer Saleh Hamdouni, recently published by Sadaqat Publishing and Distribution in Amman, revisits the age-old question about the power of the image and its meaning.

Hamdouni presents a deep critical and philosophical approach, considering photography as a cultural and cognitive discourse that transcends aesthetics. He invites a reconsideration of the "eye" as a tool of resistance and reactivates the theories of great philosophers like Roland Barthes, Saussure, and Brecht, establishing a contemporary Arab reading in the semiotics of the image.

The book, which spans around 200 pages in medium format, is a visual critique that moves beyond documentation to deconstruction and representation, providing a philosophical approach where Hamdouni describes photography as a "reflective space that connects aesthetic sensation and social perception," asserting that the image is not merely a reflection of reality but an "open text that participates in the production of reality itself."

The author reviews examples from human history demonstrating the impact of photography in shaping public opinion, from the iconic image of the Vietnamese girl Kim Phuc to the works of war photographers like Eddie Adams and Kevin Carter.

Photography as an Interpretive and Cognitive Act

Saleh Hamdouni places the image at the heart of modern philosophical questions, considering it a visual text that can be read like language. Through his agile analytical language, he argues that the image is no longer just a documentation of a fleeting moment or a reflection of reality but has become a site for representation and re-producing the world.

In a chapter titled "The Eye as a Tool of Resistance," Hamdouni explains how the camera can shift from a tool of domination to a means of resistance, and from a device that enforces authoritarian discourse to a space for uncovering contradictions and the silent details of daily life.

The author draws on the theories of Roland Barthes, Saussure, Althusser, and Brecht to construct a contemporary Arab reading in the philosophy of the image.

He quotes Barthes' reflections on "the myth of the image" and the concept of "the photographic message," illustrating how the visual sign intertwines with the ideological structure and how images are used to direct collective emotions and shape public opinion.

Hamdouni also discusses the relationship between the image, symbol, denotation, and context in light of modern semiotics, considering photography to be a "second language" that is written in light and read with both the mind and emotion.

The Image as Cultural Discourse

The analysis in the book extends to the social and political dimension of the image; the author believes that journalistic images, for example, do not merely recount events but create a complete narrative about the world, reproducing power and meaning.

The author presents iconic examples from the history of global photography, such as the photo of the Vietnamese girl Kim Phuc fleeing from napalm bombing, captured by photographer Nick Ut in 1972, and the image of the Vietnamese general executing a prisoner in the street by Eddie Adams in 1968, which won the Pulitzer Prize and sparked an ethical debate about the role of the camera between documentation and exposure.

The book also addresses the experience of South African photographer Kevin Carter, who took his famous photograph of a starving Sudanese girl during the Sudan famine in 1993, which was followed by his suicide a year later.

Hamdouni sees this incident as the peak of the moral dilemma facing the photographer when finding himself between the act of witnessing and the act of intervention.

Hamdouni dedicates advanced chapters to discuss the relationship between the image and conscience, relying on what he calls "visual ethics" that govern the act of seeing in a time of complete exposure.

He asserts that the viewer is no longer innocent, and that the modern camera does more than represent tragedy; it sometimes creates it or utilizes it as a part of the market and media game.

In one of his theoretical conclusions, the author states that "the image does not solely aim to say something; it dictates to us how to see," thus transforming into a tool for cognitive, aesthetic, and political formation simultaneously.

The Arab Image and the Resistant Imagination

In an Arab context, Hamdouni offers a reading of the Palestinian image's role in building collective memory through what he calls "the resistant consciousness with the camera," where the lens transforms into a form of national and cultural action.

He links this consciousness to the transformations of new media and the proliferation of digital platforms that have made the image faster and more widely spread, yet at the same time more fragile and susceptible to manipulation.

The author reminds us that the Palestinian image has never been a visual luxury but rather a form of recording popular history and confronting forgetfulness.

The Importance of the Book and Its Place in the Arab Field

"Upon the Horizon" represents an extension of the Arab critical trajectory in studying the image after a few preceding works in this domain, yet it stands out for treating photography from within its language, not from an external theoretical perspective, combining academic study with aesthetic awareness and critical thought.

The book is directed towards researchers in philosophy, cultural criticism, and visual arts, as well as journalists, photographers, and anyone who sees the camera as a means to think about the world.

It is considered one of the few Arabic publications that blend semiotic theory with cultural criticism of photography, as Hamdouni borrows analytical tools from structuralist and post-structuralist thought to deconstruct the frameworks of the image in contemporary media and art, emphasizing that the image has become a form of both political and aesthetic discourse simultaneously.

Hamdouni writes in fluent Arabic where semiotic terms balance with a reflective tone, making his text accessible to both specialized and general readers alike. He smoothly transitions between theoretical analysis and real examples, providing the reader with a sense of encountering a writer who knows the image from within and writes about it with the conscience of a photographer and the imagination of a philosopher.

Disturbing Questions

In an era where images flood our daily lives from screens to phones, the book "Upon the Horizon in Photography" seeks to restore consideration to thinking about the image before consuming it, and to reconsider the act of seeing itself.

Saleh Hamdouni confronts the reader with disturbing questions about the boundaries of beauty, ethics, representation, authority, and memory, suggesting that we see the world not as it is presented to us but as we can re-photograph it ourselves.

The book constitutes a qualitative addition to the Arabic library in the field of visual studies and photographic criticism, as it opens up a wide horizon for interrogating the image as a cultural and cognitive act that is no less significant than written word and is equal in its capacity to build meaning and shape collective consciousness.

Source: Al Jazeera