Analysis of a Pornographic Space

Analysis of a Pornographic Space

Analysis of a Pornographic Space:
By Jimmy Le
z3252001

The space that I have chosen to analyse is the black and white photographic darkroom. Through my experience in the darkroom I have come to the conclusion that it is a pornographic space due to three main aspects of it. My first point is the actual lighting of the room invokes a pornographic atmosphere; the second point refers to symbolism that the chemicals and water found in the darkroom contain and finally I shall be talking about the base human desire of curiosity being pushed to the limits of voyeurism through the viewing of photographs being processed in the darkroom.

However before I go onto my analysis of the darkroom as a pornographic space I must first define what pornography is. Throughout time the subject of pornography has been a very morally and lawfully grey area. Even to this date there the High Court does not have a definition of what constitutes as pornographic[1]. Dr Tim Gregory defines it as ' Any institution or event or ideology with explicit immediate aims, which ruthless peruse those aims without recourse to other systems (eg morality) and do not disguise their purpose could be pornographic'[2]. However from what I have gathered from this course, pornography is anything explicit or implicit that can invoke thoughts of sexual imagery and or desire with some recourse to act on these desires.

Your standard black and white photographic darkroom typically consists of trays of photo developing chemicals, a sink or a tub with running water apparatus, a negative enlarger, a red safety light, drying racks or clotheslines and of course a room devoid of light. My first experience whilst in the darkroom was that of overwhelming disorientation due to the lack of light within the space. Most normal people are ill prepared for the near complete darkness that envelops this room and as a result takes a fair while for your eyes to adjust to this new space devoid of light. As you take your...

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