It’s a classic at the intersection of cinema and photography. But it isn’t the first—as early as 1954, Alfred Hitchcock introduced a photographer (James Stewart) who, confined to his home with his leg in a cast, spied on his neighbors and used his telephoto lenses to uncover a possible murder. Rear Window is a classic mystery film.
But, in fact, this was the first film I ever saw about photography. At first, I was expecting a film that would focus on the more technical aspects of photography—since I was just starting my career—but I was captivated by the plot and the mystery.
Interestingly, Blow-Up parallels the narrative of Rear Window: photography as a means of uncovering a murder. In 1966, Michelangelo Antonioni, based on a short story by writer Julio Cortázar titled Las Babas del Diablo, tells the story of a photographer’s accidental involvement in a murder.
This film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967. According to the prestigious magazine Premiere, one of the film’s scenes was considered “the sexiest cinematic moment in history,” featuring supermodel Veruschka.
As I mentioned earlier, I was confident I was going to see a technical film about photography. I already had some knowledge of photographic exposure settings (choosing ISO, shutter speed, and aperture), and I was expecting something more related to framing, shots, and other techniques that could help me at the start of my career. But what I saw was an ode to chance.
In this case, “Blow-up” refers to the act of enlarging a photograph. The photographer, played by David Hemmings, is clearly very concerned with form, and from a metalinguistic perspective, the film seems to prioritize form in a particularly intense way in its presentation.
And that presentation is made clear right from the start when the photographer takes a picture of a couple in the middle of a park. Later, he is confronted by the woman in the couple, who demanded the film roll back. “You can’t photograph people like that,” she says. He replies: “Who told you I can’t? I’m just doing my job. Some are bullfighters, others are politicians. I’m a photographer.”
Later, the photographer developed the photographs taken in the park and began to notice some peculiarities. That’s when he enlarges the photos he’d taken and begins to make out a murder scene.
But the film poses a question to viewers: did a murder really happen? That’s where the master Antonioni entices us between appearance and reality. He explores the language of photography and cinema itself: to what extent is what we photograph actually real?
About the photographer. Personally, I consider him a narcissistic and sexist figure in a patriarchal society who shows no respect for female models. The film had a major influence on photographers at the time, right up through the 1990s. It’s no coincidence that several photographers and professionals in the photography industry became central figures—and were called out—as part of the #MeToo movement.
Terry Richardson and Nicholas Nixon, among others, sparked much debate about ethical boundaries in their relationships with the women they photographed.
Richardson, a famous American fashion photographer, was the subject of several allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation by models during photo shoots. Nixon, a famous American photographer, saw his retrospective exhibitions shut down, also due to such allegations.
Image credits: IMDb
What I Expect from scrobble.life
For me, it would be incredibly boring if there were only one front-end on HIVE. As I’ve mentioned here before, I like diversity and use several of them.
While Peakd, Ecency, and HiveSuite (the ones I use most) are general-purpose front-ends, scrobble.life focuses on multimedia. Music, movies, TV, games, memes, audiobooks, podcasts, anime, and manga are all available in a pleasant and constantly dynamic interface. It encourages engagement through leaderboards showing different scores.
Users can enjoy a library that’s already well-stocked, but they can also contribute to it. However, they can also publish content and share it with the community of their choice directly from scrobble.life—just like the other front-ends. So it’s yet another place to hang out.
I’m not an avid movie buff, but I plan to contribute, at least once a week, with films and documentaries about photography (after doing some research—the library already has many I’m interested in) and with podcasts about photographers.
Rating: 75/100
