#3 Read-Watch-Listen

Read

Death to the Flâneur

By Josephine Livingstone, Lovia Gyarkye

What is a Flâneur? A flâneur is an ambivalent figure of urban affluence and modernity, representing the ability to wander detached from society with no other purpose than to be an acute observer of industrialized, contemporary life. I first read of the Flâneur in the context of Walter Benjamin studying Cultural Studies at University. Benjamin’s essays from the early 19th century used Charles Baudelaire’s writing as a starting place for observing perceptions of taste, leisure, and privilege. Aspects of life which many at the time simply did not have. Baudelaire’s writings were about wandering aimlessly through the streets of Paris, observing its beauty, and staying present in the moment.

The New Republic’s article “Death to the Flâneur” gives a good overview of all of these ideas and where they stand in contemporary discussions of what it means to be able to walk and move in spaces, both figuratively and literally.

Other reading

The Painter of Modern Life by Charles Baudelaire

Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin

The Invisible Flaneuse?: Gender, Public Space and Visual Culture in Nineteenth Century Paris by Aruna D’Souza

Watch

How David Fincher Hijacks Your Eyes

by Nerdwriter

Movement matters. Point of view matters. When a camera moves you move with it. As the famous Canadian philosopher, Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message”. The movement of the camera is telling you that progress is happening, the story is moving forward, these people are making things happen - something is happening, so pay attention. What makes great film, television, and any video really is when the camera isn’t a third party - it’s active and from the point of view of someone in the scene, moving along with everyone else on film. The camera is in on the action, which makes you, the viewer, feel like you are part of the story.

Sometimes when I go on runs on long walks and listen to music, I tune everything out and picture all of the different angles of how it would look like on film. What would the angle be, what would be the soundtrack, would I trip? when I stop does the camera stop? What would be the story that would follow?

Other videos worthy of watching

The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin walk and talk

A Better World is Possible, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2020 campaign ad

Here I Come: A “Walking Towards the Camera” Montage, youtube supercut

Listen

419 - Take a walk

By Roman Mars, 99% Invisible