{"id":157848,"date":"2022-03-22T15:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T19:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=157848"},"modified":"2022-03-23T12:31:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T16:31:15","slug":"objective-correlatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Objective Correlatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>In compiling the following list of influences and inspirations for my memoir,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mackbooks.us\/collections\/frontpage\/products\/modern-instances-the-craft-of-photography-br-stephen-shore\"><em>Modern Instances: The Craft of Photography<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0I had a certain, specific range of aesthetic experiences in mind. What I was looking for in this list were particular individuals, works, or bodies of work that engendered in me a deep aesthetic experience that expanded and altered my understanding of art, of myself, and of the world. In some cases these were specific experiences that have stayed with me for decades.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><small>CIDOC<br \/>\n<\/small><\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nIn 1971, I attended a month of seminars, talks, and workshops at <small>CIDOC<\/small> (Centro Intercultural de Documentacio\u0301n) in Cuernavaca, Mexico. <small>CIDOC<\/small> was an institute founded by the radical educator Ivan Illich, whose book <em>Deschooling Society<\/em> was published that same year. Most of the major progressive educational theorists in North America were present that month. Particularly memorable was a one-week workshop I attended that was conducted by George Dennison: \u201cOrganic versus Arbitrary Order.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_157849\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157849\" class=\"wp-image-157849 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-1024x676.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-1024x676.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-300x198.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-768x507.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg 1324w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157849\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">James R. Roberts, <a href=\"https:\/\/dc.library.northwestern.edu\/items\/9054c494-5305-4dd1-87ea-91b97d9c18de\"><em>Ivan Illich leading seminar at the Centro Intercultural de Documentaci\u00f3n<\/em><\/a>, Cuernavaca, Mexico, 1971. Courtesy of the Northwestern University Archives.<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 3\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>The workshop met for a few hours each day, for five days. We sat spread out on a lawn at <small>CIDOC<\/small>. Instead of being a theoretical discussion of organic versus arbitrary order, the workshop was, itself, a demonstration of organic order\u2014the order that grows outward from the relationship of the essential elements of a situation. Dennison let the discussion go wherever it seemed to flow. He was a person of wide-ranging interests and experience. There were several participants who became frustrated with the free-form nature of the workshop. The \u201carbitrary order\u201d\u2014the order imposed onto a situation\u2014is what they brought to it. Dennison\u2019s workshop sensitized me to the structural issues at the heart of how a photographer translates the world into a photograph. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Several years later I ran into Dennison at an exhibition of Ce\u0301zanne\u2019s watercolors at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I remember him commenting that the watercolors reminded him of late Beethoven quartets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_157850\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157850\" class=\"wp-image-157850 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path-1024x751.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path-1024x751.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path-300x220.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path-768x563.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path-1536x1126.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cezanne-forest-path.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157850\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul Ce\u0301zanne, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:1904,_C%C3%A9zanne,_Forest_Path.jpg\"><em>Forest Path<\/em><\/a>, 1904\u20131906.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong><em>Walker Evans<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 5\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>In the 1964 edition of Beaumont Newhall\u2019s <em>The History of Photography<\/em>, he included a final chapter titled \u201cRecent Trends.\u201d He described four trends: the document, a photograph that points to something out in the world and asks us to pay attention to it; the straight photograph, a self-conscious work of art that asks us to pay attention to the picture itself; the formalist photograph, a picture that explores the structural qualities of an image or the formal nature of the medium; and the equivalent, a photograph that embodies or engenders a state of mind or an emotional state (what T. S. Eliot might have called a picture that functions as an \u201cobjective correlative\u201d). These aren&#8217;t necessarily separate aesthetic directions. A photograph can be a self-conscious work of art that springs from a perception of the world, that is clarified by formal understanding, and that is sensitive to the psychological and poetic resonances of the image. A photograph can address all four at the same time, and the best of Walker Evans\u2019s images do.<\/p>\n<p>To this Evans added an awareness of the cultural implications of a visual style, as when he spoke of photographing \u201cdocumentary-style.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_157913\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157913\" class=\"wp-image-157913 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans-1024x836.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"836\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans-1024x836.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans-300x245.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans-768x627.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans-1536x1254.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/walker-evans.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157913\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Walker Evans, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/collection\/works\/52677\"><em>Breakfast Room, Belle Grove Plantation, White Chapel, Louisiana<\/em><\/a>, 1935. Courtesy of the Walker Evans Archive.<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 6\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><strong><em>The Gubbio <\/em>Studiolo<em>, Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <em>studiolo<\/em> is a small room with a door and a window. The walls are a trompe l\u2019oeil representation of a study, with books and musical instruments on shelves and benches against the wall. Light from the single window appears to filter in and cast shadows on the bookshelves, whose latticework doors are sometimes slightly ajar. This illusion is created entirely of wood veneer. Most of the photographers I know who are familiar with the <em>studiolo<\/em> love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_157851\" style=\"width: 829px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157851\" class=\"wp-image-157851 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-819x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-1639x2048.jpeg 1639w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/studiolo-scaled.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157851\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/198556\">Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio<\/a>, designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, ca. 1478\u201382.<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 6\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><strong><em>Giulio Romano&#8217;s<\/em>\u00a0Sala dei Giganti, <em>Palazzo del Te\u0300, Mantua<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 6\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>In the 1568 edition of <em>The<\/em>\u00a0<em>Lives of the Artists<\/em>, Giorgio Vasari wrote of the <i>Sala\u00a0die Giganti<\/i>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Let no one think ever to see any work of the brush more frightening, or more realistic, than this; and whoever enters that room and sees the windows, doors and so forth all distorted and apparently hurtling down, and the mountains and buildings falling, cannot but fear that everything will crash down upon him, especially when he sees in that Heaven all the Gods rushing here and there in fright. And what is most marvelous to see in this work is that the whole painting has neither beginning or end, but is all interconnected and smoothly continuous, with no ornamental partitions or boundaries, so that objects which are in the distance, where the landscapes are painted, gradually recede into infinity. Hence that room, which is no more than thirty feet long, seems like open country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And the acoustics of the room make the air seem to crackle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_157852\" style=\"width: 799px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/giulio-romano-fall-of-the-giants-fresco-in-the-sala-dei-giganti-palazzo-del-te-1530-1532.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157852\" class=\"wp-image-157852 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/giulio-romano-fall-of-the-giants-fresco-in-the-sala-dei-giganti-palazzo-del-te-1530-1532.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"789\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/giulio-romano-fall-of-the-giants-fresco-in-the-sala-dei-giganti-palazzo-del-te-1530-1532.jpeg 789w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/giulio-romano-fall-of-the-giants-fresco-in-the-sala-dei-giganti-palazzo-del-te-1530-1532-300x256.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/giulio-romano-fall-of-the-giants-fresco-in-the-sala-dei-giganti-palazzo-del-te-1530-1532-768x654.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157852\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giulio Romano, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Giulio-romano-fall-of-the-giants-fresco-in-the-sala-dei-giganti-palazzo-del-te-1530-1532.jpg\"><em>Sala dei Giganti<\/em><\/a>, Palazzo del Te\u0300, Mantua, 1532\u201334.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><strong><em>Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>I\u2019ve been in two buildings that I would call examples of \u201cobjective architecture\u201d: Ibn Tulun and the Pantheon. By \u201cobjective architecture,\u201d I mean a building that by design, by material and volume and light and detail, produces a specific, intended state of being in receptive visitors. Ibn Tulun opens the heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_157855\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157855\" class=\"wp-image-157855 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-1024x559.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-1024x559.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-300x164.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-768x419.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-1536x839.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/kairo_ibn_tulun_moschee_bw_4-2048x1118.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157855\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berthold Werner, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Kairo_Ibn_Tulun_Moschee_BW_4.jpg\">Mosque of Ibn Tulun at Cairo<\/a>, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/deed.en\">CC by 3.0<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong><em>Equivalents<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am struck by how, in Orson Welles\u2019s <em>The Magnificent Ambersons<\/em>, the structure of the plot, of the photography, of the editing, of the pacing of the dialogue, and, importantly, of the interior of the Amberson Mansion are all of a piece. There is a unity connecting these various aspects\u2014a unity of mise-en-sce\u0300ne. The experience of watching the film was an early building block in my understanding of structure and meaning in art.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_157965\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157965\" class=\"wp-image-157965 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/puqa8vmk.jpg 1575w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157965\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Still from <em>The Magnificent Ambersons<\/em>, directed by Orson Welles, 1942. Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 8\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>The Amberson mansion\u2019s Victorian interior\u2014its ornateness, its darkness, its heaviness, its complexity\u2014seems a physical reflection of the characters&#8217; Victorian repression and of their interactions: George Minafer\u2019s weak manipulations, Aunt Fanny\u2019s shrill manipulations, George and Lucy&#8217;s Oedipal undercurrents. The mansion is an objective correlative, but it\u2019s not simply the interior. The film\u2019s core is carried through in the acting, in the structure of each image, and in the camera movement. A unity of means.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 8\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>The term <em>objective correlative<\/em> was used by T. S. Eliot in his essay on <em>Hamlet<\/em>. Eliot wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an \u201cobjective correlative\u201d; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In photography, this relates to what Alfred Stieglitz called <em>equivalents<\/em>. This is what he titled a series of pictures he made of clouds. He saw the images as being equivalents of psychological or emotional states.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_157856\" style=\"width: 812px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157856\" class=\"wp-image-157856 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-802x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"802\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-802x1024.jpg 802w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-235x300.jpg 235w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-768x981.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-1203x1536.jpg 1203w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-1604x2048.jpg 1604w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1949.815-equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3-scaled.jpg 2004w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157856\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alfred Stieglitz, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/artworks\/66656\/equivalent-from-set-a-third-set-print-3\"><em>Equivalent<\/em><\/a>, 1929. Courtesy of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 9\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>He photographed clouds because he wanted to rid the experience of the image of the associative meanings of content. He wanted the pictures to be abstract. But photography is relentlessly specific. A straight, unmanipulated photograph is a representation of the world seen at a particular moment, from a particular vantage point, within a defined frame. Within these parameters, it seems literal. So, these pictures of Stieglitz\u2019s do have recognizable content\u2014clouds. They are not abstract the way, say, Lotte Jacobi\u2019s work is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stieglitz wanted these images to be like music. Where music is sound and structure, photographs are tone and structure. But some music also has lyrics, and a photograph can have recognizable content, with all its resonance and cultural meaning, and still stand for or, perhaps, evoke a state of mind. This is what Walker Evans meant when he referred to \u201ctranscendent documents.\u201d Photographers sometimes find themselves attracted to certain content, not for its political or sociological meaning, but because it, for some reason, touches them\u2014stirs something in them. This content, in this light, means something.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_157927\" style=\"width: 684px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157927\" class=\"wp-image-157927 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10-674x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"674\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10-674x1024.jpg 674w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10-768x1166.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10-1011x1536.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10-1348x2048.jpg 1348w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1974_slide_misc_12_8x10.jpg 1575w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157927\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Shore, from <em>Transparencies, Small Camera Works 1971-1979<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 9\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>One of the threads running through the history of the medium is the redefinition of meaningful content. Photographers find meaning in something where it hadn&#8217;t been recognized before, and then, over time, that content itself becomes a convention. And when it becomes a convention, it lacks the immediacy of the original picture. \u201cImmediacy\u201d means without mediation. Without the mediation of visual conventions. In time the original content becomes a cliche\u0301. And the cutting edge of immediacy finds new territory to function as an objective correlative. Not new for the sake of newness, but because an artist, working within the center of the present, experiences with spontaneity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 10\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><em><strong>George Eliot<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>Reading Eliot, I see a world where real compassion and sense of humanity are amplified by clarity of thought, unclouded by sentimentality. It is dense in subtext and in wisdom. And her English is simply a delight to read, as in\u00a0<em>Daniel Deronda<\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Meyricks had their little oddities, streaks of eccentricity from the mother\u2019s blood as well as the father\u2019s, their minds being like mediaeval houses with unexpected recesses and openings from this into that, flights of steps and sudden outlooks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When I first read this sentence, Ginger and I were living in an eighteenth-century house in the Hudson Valley. Our house was sandwiched between a hill, a large rock outcropping, and a stream. Over the years it had been expanded in a way that organically accommodated its difficult site. It literally had unexpected recesses, flights of steps, and sudden outlooks.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_157928\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157928\" class=\"wp-image-157928 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2016-06-24-11.42.50-hdr-2-1.jpg 1575w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157928\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Shore, <em>Rye, United Kingdom, June 24, 2016.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><em><strong>Herman Melville&#8217;s\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><strong>Moby-Dick<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>I remember the days, almost fifty years ago, when I was immersed in this book. Melville\u2019s thoughts formed a backdrop to my daily experience. They sometimes still do. \u201cDo thou, too, live in this world without being of it.\u201d The book is like an eight-hundred-page poem.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It does seem to me, that herein we see the rare virtue of a strong individual vitality, and the rare virtue of thick walls, and the rare virtue of interior spaciousness. Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter\u2019s, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Catskill Eagle paragraph seems like an elaboration of and response to Ecclesiastes (1:17\u201318), here in the King James Version, with which Melville would have been familiar:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a vexation of spirit.<\/p>\n<p>For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I must admit to a fondness for beautifully constructed sentences, with cascading dependent clauses. I think I take a certain kind of almost physical pleasure in holding the clauses and their referents in mind. For no other reason in particular, these sentences from chapter two sometimes come to mind:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was made up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because there was a fine, boisterous something about everything connected with that famous old island, which amazingly pleased me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 12\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><em><strong>J. M. W. Turner<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>From Turner I learned about the balance of dynamic forces in a work of art\u2014finding the center of the work.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_157860\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157860\" class=\"wp-image-157860 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner-1024x767.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner-1024x767.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner-768x575.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner-1536x1150.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/turner-2048x1533.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157860\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">J. M. W. Turner, <a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/3\/30\/Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner_-_Snow_Storm_-_Steam-Boat_off_a_Harbour%27s_Mouth_-_WGA23178.jpg\"><em>Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour\u2019s Mouth<\/em><\/a>, ca. 1842.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 13\">\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><em><strong>Fra Angelico<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>Standing in front of his frescos in the Convent of San Marco brought me to tears. He speaks directly to the higher emotional center.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>With such concentrated truth that his colours here seem dissolved in tears that drop and drop, however softly, through all time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2014Henry James, <em>Italian Hours<\/em>, 1909<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_157861\" style=\"width: 870px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157861\" class=\"wp-image-157861 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441-860x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"860\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441-860x1024.jpeg 860w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441-252x300.jpeg 252w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441-768x914.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441.jpeg 1008w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-157861\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fra Angelico, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wikiart.org\/en\/fra-angelico\/the-mocking-of-christ-1441\"><em>The Taunting of Christ<\/em><\/a>, 1441.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><em>Stephen Shore\u2019s work has been widely published and exhibited for the past forty-five years. At age twenty-three, he was the first living photographer to have a solo show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since Alfred Stieglitz, forty years earlier. More than twenty-five books have been published of Shore\u2019s photographs including<\/em> Uncommon Places: The Complete Works and American Surfaces<em>, works which are now considered important milestones in photographic history. Shore is represented by 303 Gallery (New York) and Spru\u0308th Magers (London and Berlin). <\/em><i>This piece is\u00a0adapted from his new hybrid-genre memoir, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mackbooks.us\/collections\/frontpage\/products\/modern-instances-the-craft-of-photography-br-stephen-shore\">Modern Instances: The Craft of Photography<\/a><em>, which will be published by MACK Books this March.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30918],"tags":[67827,100,22169],"class_list":["post-157848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-photography","tag-featured","tag-photography","tag-stephen-shore"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Objective Correlatives by Stephen Shore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 22, 2022 \u2013 \u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Objective Correlatives by Stephen Shore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 22, 2022 \u2013 \u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-22T19:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-23T16:31:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1324\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"874\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephen Shore\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephen Shore\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stephen Shore\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3cbe50384664e0409936f79f2713ad26\"},\"headline\":\"Objective Correlatives\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-22T19:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-23T16:31:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\"},\"wordCount\":2361,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-1024x676.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Featured\",\"photography\",\"Stephen Shore\"],\"articleSection\":[\"On Photography\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\",\"name\":\"Objective Correlatives by Stephen Shore\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-1024x676.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-22T19:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-23T16:31:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"March 22, 2022 \u2013 \u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg\",\"width\":1324,\"height\":874},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Objective Correlatives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3cbe50384664e0409936f79f2713ad26\",\"name\":\"Stephen Shore\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffa61cb23e9fd6483caa6de50dffc6b94bf58149aa4c4164c03bedc7341fe077?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffa61cb23e9fd6483caa6de50dffc6b94bf58149aa4c4164c03bedc7341fe077?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Stephen Shore\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sshore\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Objective Correlatives by Stephen Shore","description":"March 22, 2022 \u2013 \u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Objective Correlatives by Stephen Shore","og_description":"March 22, 2022 \u2013 \u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2022-03-22T19:00:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-23T16:31:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1324,"height":874,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Stephen Shore","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephen Shore","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/"},"author":{"name":"Stephen Shore","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3cbe50384664e0409936f79f2713ad26"},"headline":"Objective Correlatives","datePublished":"2022-03-22T19:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-23T16:31:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/"},"wordCount":2361,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-1024x676.jpeg","keywords":["Featured","photography","Stephen Shore"],"articleSection":["On Photography"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/","name":"Objective Correlatives by Stephen Shore","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich-1024x676.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-03-22T19:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-23T16:31:15+00:00","description":"March 22, 2022 \u2013 \u201cMost photographers I know who are familiar with the studiolo love it\u2014I assume because we, too, deal in illusion and representation.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ivan-illich.jpeg","width":1324,"height":874},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/22\/objective-correlatives\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Objective Correlatives"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3cbe50384664e0409936f79f2713ad26","name":"Stephen Shore","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffa61cb23e9fd6483caa6de50dffc6b94bf58149aa4c4164c03bedc7341fe077?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ffa61cb23e9fd6483caa6de50dffc6b94bf58149aa4c4164c03bedc7341fe077?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Stephen Shore"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sshore\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157848"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158006,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157848\/revisions\/158006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}