All ROLAND BARTHES Quotes about “Eyes”

“But I never looked like that!â€™ - How do you know? What is the â€˜youâ€™ you might or might not look like? Where do you find it - by which morphological or expressive calibration? Where is your authentic body? You are the only one who can never see yourself except as an image; you never see your eyes unless they are dulled by the gaze they rest upon the mirror or the lens (I am interested in seeing my eyes only when they look at you): even and especially for your own body, you are condemned to the repertoire of its images.”
“But I never looked like that!â€™ - How do you know? What is the â€˜youâ€™ you might or might not look like? Where do you find it - by which morphological or expressive calibration? Where is your authentic body? You are the only one who can never see yourself except as an image; you never see your eyes unless they are dulled by the gaze they rest upon the mirror or the lens (I am interested in seeing my eyes only when they look at you): even and especially for your own body, you are condemned to the repertoire of its images.”
“Ultimately â€” or at the limit â€” in order to see a photograph well, it is best to look away or close your eyes. 'The necessary condition for an image is sight,'Janouch told Kafka; and Kafka smiled and replied: 'We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes.”
“Ultimately â€” or at the limit â€” in order to see a photograph well, it is best to look away or close your eyes. 'The necessary condition for an image is sight,'Janouch told Kafka; and Kafka smiled and replied: 'We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes.”
“One day, quite some time ago, I happened on a photograph of Napoleonâ€™s youngest brother, Jerome, taken in 1852. And I realized then, with an amazement I have not been able to lessen since: â€˜I am looking at eyes that looked at the Emperor.â€™ Sometimes I would mention this amazement, but since no one seemed to share it, nor even to understand it (life consists of these little touches of solitude), I forgot about it.”
“One day, quite some time ago, I happened on a photograph of Napoleonâ€™s youngest brother, Jerome, taken in 1852. And I realized then, with an amazement I have not been able to lessen since: â€˜I am looking at eyes that looked at the Emperor.â€™ Sometimes I would mention this amazement, but since no one seemed to share it, nor even to understand it (life consists of these little touches of solitude), I forgot about it.”

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