How A Book On Photography Changed The Way I See Music

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Hello there!
This one has been the hardest video to make. It's definitely a shot in the dark, and hope it will be interesting for you as it was for me to create.
I have been a professional photographer for almost 20 years, and I always felt that photography and music shares a lot of common ground.
Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida" is one of my favorite book, it has been a foundational reading when I was learning to be a photographer. I realized later on that his ideas on the photography medium actually shaped the way I "see" music and other art forms.
In this video I will do a completely personal tentative to apply Barthes ideas on being a music "operator" (the latin word he uses for the creator).
Hope this will sparkle some nice conversations in the comments!
00:00 Introduction
03:59 Studium and Punctum
09:54 The 5 Surprises
18:10 Landscapes and soundscapes
22:11 Immediacy of Punctum
25:42 You can't create a Punctum
30:17 Punctum can't be coded
34:11 Music lives in silence
38:15 Conclusions and 5 take-aways
#music #theory #photography
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[@Tolivar]

Wonderful video Oora, I celebrate this kind of content. It's very refreshing to listen to different ideas of how people get inspired to craft their art. Thank you.

[@OoraMusic]

thanks for your kind words, i agree with you and counting on doing more videos like this :)

[@Skiddoo42]

This is an awesome conversation to me because it's so rare and so important at the same time. To me, it's an exploration of the spiritual realm of communication from the heart. The heart does not grab you, it allows itself to be embraced and reflects back at you what you send out to it. The more we train ourselves to be open and accepting, the more we can learn to appreciate and find beauty in anything... the universe we live in becomes an expression of who WE are as what we see is what we ARE. It's also a conversation about memory, how memories store emotion and vice versa and how those memories are triggered by our environments. I've seen many artists poison themselves through desire for success, wealth, popularity. Some become successful but are never satisfied. Better to make the art a tool for growing the heart strong and healthy, then the audience will come that reflects the art you've created and your art will have found it's greatest reward and purpose.

[@OoraMusic]

beautiful words wes, I completely relate with what you say. I am guilty of poisoning myself with the search of success and fame, but the times where that human side of me is tamed, i create the best things. Love what you said about memory. thanks for finding time to leave your thoughts here ❤

[@FrancescoFp]

This is really a beautiful video. The thought process, the insights, applying something from another field to music. Even the beautiful music in the background. This really complements the other videos you make. Keep going please!

[@OoraMusic]

Thank you so much!

[@fugue6904]

amazing video! thank you for sharing inspiration!

[@HBTL]

That was really interesting and inspirational, thank you so much! Loved that blend of arts, please do more videos like this once in a while.

[@OoraMusic]

i will do, thanks for watching!

[@jackbenimble376]

Breathtaking. I found you today while looking for videos about the Perkons drum machine by Erica Synths. For some reason I clicked on this video. And clicked it did. I've played music for over 40 years and made my living as a photography teacher. At the beginning of the video, before you said it, I thought Spinning Away does that to me. Strange Synchronicity. It actually brings tears. I don't know why. Perhaps it punctures a life spent creating. Thank you so much for making this video. I really needed it. My Grandfather once told me that when it is really needed help arrives. I think he was right.

[@OoraMusic]

Hello Jack, thank you for these words. It is both reassuring and comforting knowing we are all on the same boat , facing similar struggles. I wish to you all the best! Fed

[@duncanhorswill3609]

Absolutely brilliant! Love this kind of content. Please keep it coming. Anything to help make sense of the creative process and guide artistic direction is invaluable. Many thanks

[@OoraMusic]

Will do!

[@marcusbyrne6633]

Hey Federico, absolutely brilliant video, thank you for this. It’s very rare to see an artist be so open and honest about these kind of ideas and feelings when approaching their passions and art form. Thank you for taking the time and energy to share your thoughts 😊👍

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks Marcus!!!

[@tonyend8080]

wOw... This hit me like you could not imagine. Thanks for jumping out on this from the normal videos I love of yours.

[@OoraMusic]

really happy to hear that, allows me to think i should do this kind of video more

[@_grossy]

Thank you for the insights - that was a great talk!

[@OoraMusic]

Glad to hear that!

[@jaygregory8219]

WOW!! This was the video/discussion I needed to hear today! This kind of thoughtful breaking down of what good music is and how to (not) try and get there is worth 10,000 gear reviews. 100,000. It resonated with me so deeply I didn't think twice about anything you said. YES, making great music that resonates with people is all about being honest with yourself and why you love/are drawn to making musical art in the first place. And if that purity of spirit/creation/emotion resonates with someone deeply then great! But there is no way to force it. My two passions in life have been photography and music, specifically electronic dance music, so we're speaking the same language. I've never though to equate the two arts like this, thank you for the fascinating thoughts and taking the time to make this!!

[@OoraMusic]

really happy to see reactions like yours. make me so willing to study more and go deeper in these ideas. thanks!

[@subaphonic]

Love these kinds of formats, not directly related to gear but rather to inspiration and creativity, please keep going !

[@MythMakerMusik]

You have very valuable and interesting insights. Thanks for making these types of videos and sharing your thoughts!

[@OoraMusic]

thanks!

[@jaixiviii]

I’m speechless, this was very refreshing and great video. Thank you! ❤

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks you so much!

[@noahbarton2809]

So useful and brilliant, I struggle with a lot of the things you are discussing in this video when making my art and this video is a great framework to move past these things. I have a feeling this video will affect my creative process for the rest of my life and I’m very thankful for that. Hope we all keep creating great stuff.

[@OoraMusic]

So great to read this. Happy it resonated!

[@AllThatsGone]

Thanks for this topic. Nice to chat about art or process mixed in with the gear sometimes.

[@OoraMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AnthonyFiumara]

Many thanks for this Federico. I really enjoyed listening to your story and it inspired me to buy (and read) Barthes' book. 🤘

[@OoraMusic]

glad to hear that! hope you will like it!

[@whoadog8725]

I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing your insights.

[@OoraMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@colinbrash]

I watched this a couple days ago but needed some time to process it. Thank you. This is really powerful and thought provoking. I love what you did transforming the concepts to a different form or art. I think it extends further to other arts and senses. I tried to apply some of what I heard here when I made Thanksgiving dinner for my family. I love cooking, and often try to make something that those around me will *love*, and you gave me a new way to think about how to create food. Thank you!

[@OoraMusic]

You are so welcome, thanks for writing these beautiful words Colin!

[@klong1394]

Great video. Thanks for going out of the comfort zone. Very inspiring!

[@OoraMusic]

You are so welcome!

[@lkvs415]

This vid is a value, very refreshing way of talking/thinking about music. I'd love to more content like this one. Thanks!

[@OoraMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it! more to come!

[@AmbientHermitage]

Thank you for this video. It resonated with me in mysterious ways. 😃🙏

[@OoraMusic]

Happy to hear that!

[@myke3277]

Man you moved me, words cannot explain. Thank thank you for this.

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks for your kind words!

[@DmitriyBorodiy]

Joined your Patreon after watching this vid. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself in this one. 🙏

[@OoraMusic]

thank for your support!

[@whirrings]

Really enjoyed listening to this, very interesting, great and freeing creative lessons we all need to hear, many thanks 👍

[@OoraMusic]

thanks for your kind words :)

[@emanuelefrusi]

I'm always amazed at how awesome your content is, and sitting here listening to you, makes me think how much I relate to your words, even being on a different side of the table ( I have to overproduce a lot sometimes ) This conversation could be the incipit of something great ... bravo ! !

[@OoraMusic]

Grazie Ema!!!

[@emanuelefrusi]

@@OoraMusic 💪🔥

[@geha6596]

Wow! Beautiful! Please keep on doing those kind of videos! I had a "granpda"-experience from your video just now!!! Bravo!!!

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks for your kind words!

[@bertprikenfeld5263]

Really wonderful video! Keep em coming!

[@OoraMusic]

Thank you! Will do!

[@samothrace2106]

This is deep, interesting, sincere. Thank you. Every moment can't be this peak, but so many never even attempt the peak...

[@OoraMusic]

You're very welcome

[@ClintOwenEllis]

Really loved this video. My two passions are reading and music and I love how they can influence each other. I would love to hear more about other books that influence you as an artist. The idea of studium and punctum really helped me process how I feel about some music. I've always been intrigued about how I can hear some music and know that I like it but it's a different kind of feeling to that of when I hear music that actually moves me. An example of this is The Rolling Stones and to a certain extent even a lot of the Beatles catalogue. I know it's good and I do enjoy listening to it at times, but I hardly reach for it when I'm looking to be absorbed and taken away by music. By framing these feelings into the spectrum of punctum and studium, I feel more at peace and even understand myself a little better. Thanks!

[@cmnit61]

Grazie Federico per avermi ricordato quel gioiello di Roland Barthes! Neanche ricordo più quanti decenni fa l'ho compulsato... ed essendo appassionato sia di fotografia sia di musica elettronica/ambient proprio come te questo tuo video mi ha davvero entusiasmato, grazie ancora! Seguo da poco il tuo canale YT e instagram, preziosissimi come spunti per i miei piccoli esperimenti con (semi)modulari e dispositivi vari, keep going ciao!

[@OoraMusic]

Mi fa piacere sentirti dire questo!! Ciao!

[@orchidsvoid]

Thank you so much for this philosophical journey. I like how you analysing and trying to explain ideas. For me punctum is some sort of a "key" like some surface with scratches and bends are lying on your soul which also have scars scratches wounds etc. Also you mentioned death inside things like a part of this book - for me it's actually a problem because I always see death inside things like in old photos or music. And it's distracting me. I definitely will check out this book and try to apply this ideas in my music production. So thank you again it was a pleasure to watch this video (and I definitely will come back here multiple times in future to refresh this concepts). Would be happy see part 2 ❤

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks. Yes definitely the idea of death is really foundational in this book. Have a read and let me know you thoughts!

[@emptyvesselnz]

I enjoyed this video so much, Federico, thank you for taking the time to make it. Very interesting to think of the punctum and how the connection between the creator of the artwork/music allows some detail that resonates with someone else, the differences between people and their past, their experiences which mean different things resonate for different people, or just don't resonate at all. Fascinating and so much to think about, I enjoy making music and in particular exploring sound and putting emotion and meaning in those sounds since it's my job, but I seldom make music I love even though I feel I'm maybe getting closer. Looking forward to letting your thoughts soak in a bit and having a think about them on a long walk. I ordered a copy of the book for my girlfriend by the way, who is a photographer but has lost the joy and spark in taking photos, but I will also read it. Thanks so much, I'm sure it took a lot of time to put this video together. I hope you'll find the time to make some more long-form videos like this to share your thoughts and philosophy, I very much appreciated this one. Grazie. Much love from New Zealand.

[@OoraMusic]

thanks for your message. there is a point which was super interesting: your wife that lost joy of taking pictures and you saying that the music you do for work doesn’t give you the same joy of the music you would do for yourself. I experienced that a lot when i was a pro photographer. i was doing commissiioned works that had nothing to do with myself, and i was not allowed to surrender to art at all. i had to deliver and impress. that eventually killed all my joy. my solution was music , carving out some sacred time to create freely. it worked in a great way and also resonated with a lot of people. Lately i am feeling a lot the pressure of doing music for money, which honestly is not happening in the way i’d like . This pressure make me do music im not proud of , but i justify as “necessary “. Not sure how this will progress, as it is still a growing thing, will circle back on this concept for sure!

[@emptyvesselnz]

​@@OoraMusic my work is as a sound designer, professionally, but involves some music also. It's been hard to separate what feels like work from what is fun and just for myself, the pressure to create for payment is definitely a mental struggle. A lot of my work is with software so I got an Octatrack, RYTM and a few other bits of hardware for music making so it's separated from using the computer if I want it to be. It has helped a bit but it is an ongoing process I feel. My wife spent quite some time as a pro photographer and by the end (she stopped doing paid photography a few years ago) still finds it hard to pick up her camera to take photos for enjoyment and for herself. It's a similar pattern each time, I feel like creativity to order/as a job can be particularly draining on creative energy and it requires a bit of practice and discipline to, as you say "carve out some sacred time to create freely". For me sometimes even I feel guilty because I spend creative time and energy with no goal and no payment at the end, just for myself, almost like this is wasted time! Which of course it is not. I know quite a few big youtubers who lost their love for what built up their youtube success because of the pressure to create that video each week. All of this is very hard, on the one hand to do something you love and earn money is a special thing and I love it but it comes with some big difficulties and psychological problems to overcome for sure. I hope you can find a balance, it helps me to hear other people have this problem and it helps to discuss it. I hope you can find the energy to make a few videos like this one to talk about that journey without the pressure of making the video making the issue worse :) I always enjoy your videos and your presentation style, thanks for making them.

[@compucorder64]

Perfect timing. I've been interested and doing electronic music for a long time. And photography, I've always admired, but only dabbled with. But, suddenly since moving to Valencia and it's light, I've felt compelled to buy my first good camera and lens, instead of a new synthesizer. These points an studium and punctum do resonate with me, as I edited through my first 1000 photographs taken this week. 100 made the cut, under studium. Maybe 2 definitely are punctum for me. In both cases, the punctum for me is the capturing of a rare passing particular moment in time in light, between between two very different generations or even centuries. I've noticed recently that the electronic artists I admire the most, also seem to have similar aesthetic tastes both in music, photography and nature (R Beny, Taylor Deupree and William Basinski). And your work sits in that mold too. Thanks for the reference to Barthe, I just started reading it. Deupree uses the second mode of rarity, in the form of field recordings, which are analogues to landscape photography/videography. Basinski makes use of both rarity of instrumentation but also the rare passing moment. And R Beny is creating his own strange hybrid instrumentation which lives between the real and the synthesized and is possibly rendering emotional landscape induced by natural environment (like Biosphere, Loscil).

[@adde65]

Fantastic video, thank you. I've sometimes had these discussions with other musicians, and often myself :) But these definitions are great, and largely new to me.

[@OoraMusic]

great to hear, thanks for writing it!

[@DJStephenGlass]

I enjoy your videos and learn or reflect on the demonstration or tutorial style you use. Though no music was performed or demonstrated, this was your most provocative video yet. I will continue to learn from the ideas and concepts. It resonates with my love of all mediums of art and what I strive to express.

[@OoraMusic]

I am really happy to hear that. I would love to do more of this kind of content, will try to balance better in the future!

[@emiljohnsen9627]

This was truly inspiring. Your best video yet!

[@OoraMusic]

thanks Emil!

[@immersivenarrative]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@Lincoln6echoLSE]

Thank you I needed this today! Subscribed

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks for subbing!

[@_greenleader]

Great discussion and concepts my friend

[@OoraMusic]

thanks !

[@Haggard33draggah]

Incredibly valuable insight, thank you

[@OoraMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@GregoryGirvanFraser]

Thank you for this. Really well thought out and expressed. When listening to your 1st point, about Studium and Punctum, I thought of a very popular rock band I grew up with, the Rolling Stones. While I can listen with pleasure to many of their songs (Studium) there are a handful that feel exceptional (Punctum) to me, among them "Gimme Shelter". While the lyrics, lead vocals and searing lead guitar lines all contribute to this, the highlight comes from the solo vocal of Merry Clayton, which evoke an intense feeling of desperation and excitement in me. I appreciate too the link you feel between photography and music in your life. I have spent a lifetime moving from painting to music to gemstone carving and a bit of photography. All part of the same central thing.

[@OoraMusic]

i completely relate with your example. it is super interesting how things hit us in such a personal and different way.

[@MrConorMan]

Wise words. Thanks for sharing.

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks!

[@Pahfluxus]

I really enjoyed watching and listening to this video, because its not gear focussed but talks about how we receive Art and decide if it touches us or not…great…I fully agree on your idea how music-Film-Art inspire one or not…BTW I just saw you by chance last night in the a Burger restaurant before heading to the Atonal X event in Berlins Kraftwerk…I went there as well…how did you like the Xenakis interpretations on night 1?…even so it had some sound difficulties I really enjoyed the Moritz von Oswald Interpretation …I will head to Day 2 Tonight…

[@dimensionstomorrow]

Very beautiful. Thank you.

[@OoraMusic]

thanks!

[@MynameisMusic]

Oora I found this video from you and as soon as I seen you will talking about music and photography relationship I thought I must watch it. So many things changed in my life recently and I felt I turned away from music that I always loved. Somehow my life turned to the way and now I spend so much more time and effort for photography so I have no time for both but I had to choose because I felt photography can be the same as music for me. I can express myself with and I love to do. Also it may can something more serious such as photography business. But there is my home studio that I barely used in the past so many months . Sometimes if I can’t create in photography , I always turn on the synths and create something with them, but still not much as I would. So I felt bad because maybe I turned away from something that always been important in my life and I thought … what if I could combine the two thing I love. Photography and music . Your vide gave me an explanation how it could work in the future and there are things I should not push. I always got this feedback … “your music not fit in any genre” or “your music is not normal music” . Well all I done it’s not for make others satisfied with me, I done it because I felt these sounds need to be created and these sounds represent my feelings and the respect to music . Thank you so much for your video! I’m glad I see my path now a little more!

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks for writing this note. I really appreciate what you shared and definitely relate with your experience. I just bought a new camera and these last days I thought that I miss photography and should do it more, similar to what you feel about music. I think, no matter what, is a good problem to have and we are lucky we have the chance to decide what to do to express ourselves. Wish you great new year!

[@MynameisMusic]

@@OoraMusic Absolutley agree with you! Thank you so much for sharing your opinion! All the best for you and have a great new year !

[@orchidsvoid]

Aside of video content I want to admit how beautiful your new studio is 😊 Need room tour and what changed from your old studio.

[@OoraMusic]

Changing studio in January actually!

[@Ariocarpus2000]

Hi, this is the kind of content that has much much more value to me than all the gear reviews. Ok sometimes it's interesting to discover other gears, how they work and so on, but it's somehow as if a writer would only talk about the best fountain pen and roller pen he/she uses, what type of notebook, paper, software, the transposition renders this kind of silly, right? The best parts of gear review has always be for me the improvisation moment, or that instant where the review is taken into music because of the sudden sound obtained. It's always less about gear than about THAT moment. I have the book and read it a long time ago, thinking only about photography. I will read it again in the light you shed on it, that will be most interesting. This punctum stuff, when you are truely pierced by the music/photography, painting, is unique and very personal (one Gauguin in the Quai d'Orsay museum took me by surprise and I couldn't stop staring at it, and I still don't truely know why, but for me it's a bigger punctum than the Joconde, which I find much more related to the studium part).

[@onesuavestudio]

Dammit Oora, I'm trying to clean up and reduce my subscription list. It's content like this that keeps me coming back. Love your content. If I can give a suggestion, it think it would be cool to add a simple graphic or visuals around you in the vdeo to demonstrate what you're talking about. I'm imagining like mini jestures and visuals around your animated hands.

[@OoraMusic]

ahah that would be amazing, but im not that good with video postproduction :D

[@jetjaguar3000]

“Do not create to impress” - I think if I’m being honest that’s something I find really hard as well. This idea of surrendering thoughts and fears about how your art might be received is great. It makes total sense when you say it, but perhaps worth remembering.

[@OoraMusic]

dont get me wrong: it is hard as hell to freeing yourself from pressure to impress. i still am experiencing that and alway try to remember that i have to let go. It is a start :)

[@jetjaguar3000]

@@OoraMusic yeah but having a kind of mental framework for approaching it helps I think. A great video thanks.

[@royalsounds4625]

Awesome video! 🎉

[@OoraMusic]

thanks!

[@notalwaysavailable]

Wonderful! Grazie!

[@OoraMusic]

:)

[@jaiden033]

This is my favorite video of yours

[@OoraMusic]

thanks I enjoyed doing it!

[@sleepisoptional]

punctum seems to exist as a magically captured moment in time. it has both a universal and personal aspect. macrocosm & microcosm. idea whose time has come intersecting with a unique individual on their personal journey. punctum is personal but still potentially universal. like the resonance captured in great works of art. a very specific moment in time captured but also a timeless quality. this was one of your most interesting videos, thought provoking

[@OoraMusic]

your timeless definition is really fitting here. something i didn not realize but somehow inlove this mixture of contingency and timelessness. thanks for sharing your ideas!

[@griffithmorgan4966]

I love this. I think a lot about the philosophical side of making music. Talking gear is a bit like talking about the weather, yet, when a discussion is about the process and the possibility of doing music that gets very interesting. I do a lot of different things. Professionally a film editor, writer, and director. And I like to bring ideas from that to making music. I do think the idea of beauty is something that in many ways I personally have moved past. Some of my favorite music and film can be difficult and even painful to experience, but there is something there. I sometimes try to make very ugly things. Sometimes these are experiments with the goal of trying to do something different from what I normally make. Perhaps the Punctum may be considered more in terms of, "This is something that has moved me." Ideas about such things such as Punctum can be found in a lot of critical analysis. In Homo Ludens there is a term for the enjoyment, or reward, of playing a game. You might want to read Andre Tarkovsky's, Sculpting in Time. It may offer some additional ideas of interest. Thanks for the show - Griff

[@OoraMusic]

thanks for your thoughts Griffith, ordering now Scuplting in time. Moving past the basic concept of beauty is something that seems a great step to do. Yet i find myself trapped by “beauty ä“ more than i would like. I love the idea of creating art that challenges beauty. Thanks again!

[@steveh8658]

@@OoraMusic Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! It is the viewers' truth. We cannot know what others find beautiful or truthful, but we can, as artists, show our own truth to the world. It is all we can do. The more skilled the artist, the more accurate the vision produced. It says nothing of how viewers/listeners will 'behold' it.

[@starsky101]

An interesting notion, I’m currently trying to construct a series called the postcard chronicles where I take a postcard with an abstract art image on it and think about how it inspires me to write a short track. What sounds will I use and then how the track will develop. I didn’t know it had a name, and now I think it’s Punctum!

[@OoraMusic]

GHreat to hear that Simon!!

[@area200X]

this channel is something else

[@OoraMusic]

thanks!

[@andersnilsson4035]

I have a very similar relationship to Pink Floyd, except for one exception: I had slept on the sofa of a friends’ place, and in the morning I woke up from the alarm clock turning on the radio. As I opened my eyes, the song playing was from Division Bell, the sound of a guitar and the feeling of travelling through an open sky. I have no idea if I would recognise the song if I heard it again (or even like it) but it was something in the conditions in that room then and there - the light in the space, the sudden sound, the softness of the sofa, the air, the change of state, waking up with a friend - that made all the parts of the moment self resonate. I never forget it.

[@OoraMusic]

there you have your punctum. we all have experiences like that we should cherish ❤

[@andersnilsson4035]

@@OoraMusic Yes :) though in the framework of this, the punctum was somehow strangely disconnected from any kind of studium and instead created in the moment. Like the two happened at once. I can not relate it to anything that happened before it and I am not sure it could be recreated, like the parts would not fit together in any other kind of context. Perhaps the moment itself has become part of my experience of culture and influenced future events, though, but I somehow feel that is different. Anyway, the next time I woke up on the same sofa, I almost fell out of it. This time, the alarm radio turned on in the middle of YMCA by the Village People on maximum volume. Somehow similar circumstances, but a very different experience! :) I really appreciated this video! Thank you for this.

[@OoraMusic]

thanks for your share, i really enjoyed read about your sofa experiences 😊

[@AsteroidKiller]

Well said ❤️

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks!

[@JohnLunney]

Great video.

[@OoraMusic]

Thanks!

[@George-yh4vr]

𝓅𝓇o𝓂o𝓈𝓂

[@g3cd]

I think you're wrong about not being able to create "punctum" by arranging things - this is exactly the art that Annie Leibowitz or Helmut Newton mastered. They create a setting, with the right models, stylists, location. And then manage to get the MOOD right, just like some DJ in a crowded club. In this case, it's not about being in the right place at the right time BY ACCIDENT, but creating the atmosphere that makes it right. At least that's what I learned from working with some very talented photographers - whereas my mum always waited forever to take a picture until it became awkward and then the mood was gone (and we always got BLINDED by that horrible flash, I still hate being photographed).