What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide
Perpetrator images are those that are part of the machinery of destruction (torture, genocide…). This means that in them the act of violence and the apparatus of image production are interpenetrated. However, this condition does not predetermine the degree of personal, temporal, spatial implication...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Associação de Investigadores da Imagem em Movimento
2015-07-01
|
| Series: | Aniki: Revista Portuguesa da Imagem em Movimento |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://aim.org.pt/ojs/index.php/revista/article/view/170 |
| _version_ | 1811231089176346624 |
|---|---|
| author | Vicente Sánchez-Biosca |
| author_facet | Vicente Sánchez-Biosca |
| author_sort | Vicente Sánchez-Biosca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Perpetrator images are those that are part of the machinery of destruction (torture, genocide…). This means that in them the act of violence and the apparatus of image production are interpenetrated. However, this condition does not predetermine the degree of personal, temporal, spatial implication between the two processes. And, in fact, several kinds of hiatuses may occur. The objective of this text is to analyse the production and migration of a perpetrator image-icon associated with the Cambodian genocide (the image of Hout Bophana). First, the article focuses on the process of (pragmatic) creation of this mug shot that identifies the detainee, emphasising her identity. Then, we study the use, re-appropriation, insertion, <em>détournement</em> of the same image in two films directed by Rithy Panh: <em>Bophana, une tragédie combodgienne</em> (1996) and <em>Duch, le maître des forges de l’enfer</em> (2011). In this proposed itinerary, we move from the creation of a <em>performative image</em> (the one that produces an enemy, instead of simply registering him) to its confrontation with the perpetrator (the Tuol Sleng’s director, Duch) responsible for its execution. In so doing, we draw attention to the pictorial and cinematic re-elaboration of the counter-figure, the reverse shot, of that perpetrator image: Bophana portrait as it was painted by the survivor Vann Nath. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:40:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76fbab3163764e1db4daa270995552e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-1750 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:40:18Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Associação de Investigadores da Imagem em Movimento |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aniki: Revista Portuguesa da Imagem em Movimento |
| spelling | doaj.art-76fbab3163764e1db4daa270995552e12022-12-22T03:36:37ZengAssociação de Investigadores da Imagem em MovimentoAniki: Revista Portuguesa da Imagem em Movimento2183-17502015-07-012232234810.14591/aniki.v2n2.17075What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian GenocideVicente Sánchez-Biosca0Universitat de València, Departamento de Teoría de los Lenguages y Ciencias de la Comunicación, Avda. Blasco Ibáñez 32, 46010 ValènciaPerpetrator images are those that are part of the machinery of destruction (torture, genocide…). This means that in them the act of violence and the apparatus of image production are interpenetrated. However, this condition does not predetermine the degree of personal, temporal, spatial implication between the two processes. And, in fact, several kinds of hiatuses may occur. The objective of this text is to analyse the production and migration of a perpetrator image-icon associated with the Cambodian genocide (the image of Hout Bophana). First, the article focuses on the process of (pragmatic) creation of this mug shot that identifies the detainee, emphasising her identity. Then, we study the use, re-appropriation, insertion, <em>détournement</em> of the same image in two films directed by Rithy Panh: <em>Bophana, une tragédie combodgienne</em> (1996) and <em>Duch, le maître des forges de l’enfer</em> (2011). In this proposed itinerary, we move from the creation of a <em>performative image</em> (the one that produces an enemy, instead of simply registering him) to its confrontation with the perpetrator (the Tuol Sleng’s director, Duch) responsible for its execution. In so doing, we draw attention to the pictorial and cinematic re-elaboration of the counter-figure, the reverse shot, of that perpetrator image: Bophana portrait as it was painted by the survivor Vann Nath.http://aim.org.pt/ojs/index.php/revista/article/view/170Imagens de perpetradoresmigração de imagensGenocídio Cambojano |
| spellingShingle | Vicente Sánchez-Biosca What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide Aniki: Revista Portuguesa da Imagem em Movimento Imagens de perpetradores migração de imagens Genocídio Cambojano |
| title | What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide |
| title_full | What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide |
| title_fullStr | What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide |
| title_full_unstemmed | What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide |
| title_short | What does this photograph want from me? The perpetrator image of Bophana and its reverse shot. Iconographies of the Cambodian Genocide |
| title_sort | what does this photograph want from me the perpetrator image of bophana and its reverse shot iconographies of the cambodian genocide |
| topic | Imagens de perpetradores migração de imagens Genocídio Cambojano |
| url | http://aim.org.pt/ojs/index.php/revista/article/view/170 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vicentesanchezbiosca whatdoesthisphotographwantfrommetheperpetratorimageofbophanaanditsreverseshoticonographiesofthecambodiangenocide |