“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”


Benjamin begins this article by discussing how a work of art has always been reproducible. Two procedures or reproducing works of art by the Greeks was founding and stamping. In the beginning of the nineteenth century lithography came into play and the process of reproducing art was at a whole new level. The process of pictorial reproduction accelerated so swiftly because the eye perceives more swiftly than the hand can draw. The process was able to keep up with speech. Film came into play at this point. It is very interesting for me to think about the fact that a stage actor is certainly presented to the public by the actor, but with film, the screen actor is presented through the camera. I never actually sat down and thought about this but after reading this section of Benjamin’s article, it bothers me to think that we are watching what the camera actually wants us to see and not the actor himself. The camera is consistently altering its position based on the performance. Different angles and close-ups are certain factors of movement that the camera decides upon, not the screen actor.. They are initially the artist but in the end they have no control over what will be seen by the viewer. The camera takes total control and I’m not sure if I agree with that but I guess that’s why there are still stage actors that you can go see perform and see the real thing in front of your own eyes.