Photography, aura, transmission: from Walter Benjamin to Thomas Struth, Gregory Crewdson and Carlos Goldgrub

Abstract

The following article enters into the question if and how three well-respected contemporary photographers – Carlos Goldgrub from Brasil, Gregory Crewdson from the USA and Thomas Struth from Germany – refer to the works of Walter Benjamin. The article tries to show that the Benjaminian idea of „aura“, especially in the essay A short History of Photography, can be found in some works of the photographers and that they reflect and thematize this concept in different creative ways. The suggestion is: These photographers tried to transfer and to realize the conception of „aura“ in some examples of their work.

Keywords

• zeitgenössische fotografie
• aura
• walter benjamin
• carlos goldgrub
• thomas struth
• gregory crewdson