Francois Laruelle’s latest book enriches contemporary writing on photography with completely original thoughts. The author is not interested in topics that today are normally associated with photographic theory, but rather he looks into the essence of photography itself.
He describes photography as ideas that allow us to relate to the world in a new way. He casts doubt on the idea of a causal connection between photographed reality and the photo image and describes it as an illusion: one created by technological automatism. He explains this claim in full detail: in his view, photography becomes fiction – real only in its own two-dimensional existence. Laruelle’s non-photography does not deny (the existence of) photography, but on the contrary it points out its universal validity and suddenly places it in the context of art, philosophy and, first and foremost, science.
