Inscriptions

I think what is an interesting relationship throughout all the artciles is the unconscious serving as inscription. In the beginning of the chapter there is a quote that says.."The central artifact of this system is not the camera but the filing cabinet". I interpret this as meaning the viewer is the filing cabinet, conscious and unconscious observer. In Benjamin's article he argues that although a
a photograph is a documentation of reality, a recognizable conscious environment somehow it can also become a mystical unconscious experience. I think experience, language, memory all create the "inscription" which exists within our subconscious.

Photography also serves as documentation of the unconsious, as in Sekula's article. The photograph serves 2 purposes, documentation of physiognmic features (conscious) and documentation of phrenology (unconsious). The phrenological purpose of the photograph is to visually portray one's "criminality", but this personality trait is something that exist on a unconsious level.