[soundscape] invisible

Editor’s Note: New (regular) feature, new contributor. Welcome photographer/writer Bari Sowa to our humble abode. In “soundscape,” she will provide a photograph she’s taken along with a song that matches the imagery. Think of it as music supervision for photography. Enjoy.

photo: ‘the twist’

song: damien jurado – “ohio” [MP3] (buy)

by way of introduction, i submit this quote by roland barthes: ‘a photograph is always invisible, it is not it that we see.’

the same invisibility applies to all art forms, music included. ultimately, despite admirable technical qualities, what leads me back to a song, or painting, or photograph, is the way i feel when i experience it. how it mirrors my feelings, makes me nostalgic, fills me with wanderlust. how i feel happy, or sad, or lonely.

when i hear a song i like i almost always want to listen to it, as immediately as possible, in the car while driving. i want to be alone with it [save the company of an occasional cigarette], and i want to experience it. this is why i pair my photographs with music; i want to experience that complete range of emotions which wouldn’t be possible without the marriage of audio and visual elements.

this photograph, ‘the twist’, is paired with Damien Jurado’s ‘Ohio’. i love this song primarily because of how bittersweet it tastes. it ricochets so well between longing and acceptance, with the harmonica enveloping the whole thing with a thin ribbon of loneliness. this photograph and this song are paired because, as tinged as it may be, ‘Ohio’ is never really a sad song. instead, it gives the undeniable feeling that even the smallest moments will leave an impression, the faintest person will leave a trace.

photo by bari sowa