Response to Walter's Essay

In Walter's essay titled "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", he examines and discusses a lot of interesting points about the effects of advancements in technology. He talks a lot about the shift in perception of film, photography and more in the 20th century. Walter explains how he believes the "aura" or merely the originality and authenticity of the work that is created through mechanical reproduction has been lost. He also talks about how this loss may one day make art political in that images will be reproducible.

I thought it was interesting how he said that the cameraman intervenes with what you see in a film but in a painting you see it for all that it is. He explains how a viewer can ponder and contemplate the meaning and feeling of the peice when looking at a painting. However, in a movie you can't grasp a scene for too long before its gone. The constant and sudden change within a film leave you to be distracted from the previous scene and leaves little to the imagination. He thinks this "loss of aura" dulls our perception and instead of recognizing the artwork for what it is, we are distracted and directs your eye towards a specific spot.