Film Summary: The Interview With Zoe Crosher

The Interview With Zoe Crosher addresses very important dilemmas within the different genres of photography: Documentary and fiction. Zoe Crosher attempts to do what Joan Didion previously did with her journalism, which was to collapse these two genres which are perceived as polar opposites, when in reality they intertwine and really have no meaning at all. We previously discussed the issues regarding ethics in documentary filmmaking, and how documentary’s aren’t as “real” as we think. We also read Susan Sontag’s article on photography, and how we initially perceived this medium to represent reality, but in actuality there is more behind the frame. This interview has common themes and brings up interesting topics for discussion. One of the central ideas behind Zoe Crosher’s work is the idea of photographic locations where both fictional and non fictional character’s disappeared. Upon viewing an image we perceive it to be genuine; even fiction photography usually has something tangible. This also
relates to our emotional attachment to images and how locations in a film can be held very closely to to us viewers. Seeing the location of where something was filmed can have an emotional impact on us even though the film wasn’t real, but because we were emotionally attached to the story this part of the story is held with great importance. Zoe Crosher also addresses the idea of Manifest Destiny within her work, and how it influenced her as an artist. My initial reaction to the idea of Manifest Destiny relates to it’s meaning regarding America feeling destined to expand and start Western Settlement, while simultaneously disregarding the lives of others. Photographers often feel a sense of Manifest Destiny when photographic their subjects. Photographers known as paparazzi feel that they have the right to photograph people without their permission. However, It is not just paparazzi that are guilty of this. Photographer Kevin Carter captured a starving Sudanese child and didn’t even think to feed this starving child. He exploited this kid for his monetary benefit, and he went on to win the Pulitzer prize for this photograph. This is a problem among many photographers who feel entitled to photograph anything. Manifest Destiny can also mean something entirely different, and relate to an artist’s conundrum.
As artists we strive to make our masterpiece, or piece of art that defines us and serves as a culmination of our career. This idea can be disheartening for artists who may think that they have made the best piece of art that they possibly can, and have nothing left to contribute to society. It is unsettling for me to believe that I can search for something and once I find it there is nowhere else to go. What will happen at this point? Will I be happy after all I can give is gone? This article brought up many interesting philosophical ideas regarding art and the artist. It shared common themes with previous articles and concurrently expanded on these ideas. By brining up the idea of Manifest Destiny I was able to think about it in two different ways: one regarding the definition as it related to American history, and one regarding a psychological struggle within an
artist.