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On Photography

Posted 1/6/2011 4:48pm by Eugene Wyatt.

Baron de Charlus:

His voice rose. "It reminds me of a room in the Château of Blois where the caretaker who was showing me over said: ‘This is where Mary Stuart used to say her prayers; I use it to keep my brooms in.’ Naturally I wish to know nothing more of this house that has let itself be dishonoured, any more than of my cousin Clara de Chimay after she left her husband. But I keep a photograph of the house, when it was still unspoiled, just as I keep one of the Princess before her large eyes had learned to gaze on anyone but my cousin. A photograph acquires something of the dignity which it ordinarily lacks when it ceases to be a reproduction of reality and shows us things that no longer exist."

À l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs Vol. 2 of À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, Marcel Proust 1919; translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff 1922.

Tags: Photography, Proust

2 Comments »

Susan Lehrer said,

1/7/2011 @ 12:16 pm

Thiw quote seems to be written in two styles, separated by 'But,'.
I felt the difference physically as well as in my mind only. Part one: languid, internalized, reminiscing. Part two: Like a small jolt, suddenly the writer is awake and back in real time. the rhythm is faster.. 'lets get to the point'.
Yours is the only website I check every day. I'm a knitter too.
What happened with the amendment to the dreaded food bill. Was it attached to the bill?

Susan L

Susan

Eugene Wyatt said,

1/7/2011 @ 6:48 pm

I liked the passage because the equation of the prayer room of Mary Queen of Scots and the broom closet and how it annoyed M. de Charlus (who is reminiscent of his lineage and that things aren't what they were for the aristocracy in the Republic) and then that lovely, lovely line, "before her large eyes had learned to gaze on anyone but my cousin."

Then again there is the observation that the moment of the photograph no longer exists a second after or a century. O Sarah.