Women writers in different discursive spheres

Analysis about the look of the other through the camera and the self-representation performed by writing

Abstract

Thinking about the photos’ role in the construction and reinforcement of multiple discourses, this article aims to expand the analysis of Walter Benjamin in A Small History of Photography on the atelier’s portrait of the writer Franz Kafka.

The consideration about the sad and desolated Kafka’s look contrasting with the planned scene to provide an image of a luxury and embellished aura bring an amplified question which this article searches to answer: thinking about people that wrote about themselves, what are the points of contact and divergence between the self-representation through the writing and through the look of the other by the camera and the photographs?

Because its character is still obscure, the focus of the investigation comes from different eras with different styles: Anne Frank and her family photos, Sylvia Plath and the establishment of a feminine ideal based on appearances and, finally, the punk artist Patti Smith and the United States as changing and “scrap” scenario. In order to discuss these women's reports about themselves and their images established in history, this article has recourse to Susan Sontag's essays, relating photography, historical context and literature.