Earlier, as I was waiting for the train to leave the Gare du Nord, a middle-aged couple had passed down the carriage in which I was sitting.
Something in woman’s face brought to mind an image from a film. The previous night, seeking distraction from work, I had switched on the television. The channel I selected was passing in cursory review of films to be broadcasted in weeks to come: a title and a few seconds of footage from each. No doubt there was commentary voix-off but I had the mute on. A young woman, seen from behind, executes a perfect dive into swimming pool; cut to the face of a middle-aged woman who (the edit tells me) has witnessed this. I read something like anxiety in her expression.
The woman who had passed down the carriage had an anxious look.
Excerpt from the book
The Remembered Film
by Victor Burgin
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THE REMEMBERED IMAGE
In our lives, there are moments that resonate with the cinematic. These instances, whether it's the solitude of a summer drive on remote roads, or the dreamy gaze from a hilltop, evoke a sense of déjà vu, akin to scenes plucked from the TV screen.
"The Remembered Image" delves deep into the labyrinth of memory, challenging our understanding of its origin. While we often regard memories as personal experiences etched into our consciousness, this project exposes our ability to remember not just the events that have shaped our lives directly but also those borrowed from the cinematic art. Film, with its visual language and emotional resonance, profoundly impacts the formation of our memories.
Within the human psyche, memories of visuals merge, blurring the boundaries between reality and what's seen on the screen. Genuine experiences intervine with recollections of cinematic visuals, at times leading us to recall movie scenes as if they were moments of our own living.
In a world where cinema has thrived for over a century, moulding our perceptions and enriching our daily lives, we find ourselves products of this visual culture. Film, an immersive and transformative medium, profoundly influences our growth and how we interpret the world.
"The Remembered Image" embark on the interplay, where our personal experiences and the images from the screens collide, through cinematic photographs, capturing the mystery of our memories between the authentic and imagined.