The "Art" of Reproduction

Walter Benjamin provides great insight into the idea of reproduction and how it has impacted art in his essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. To be able to reproduce something has not always been easy. Before such inventions as the printing press, it was not possible to have an exact copy of something. The earliest forms of reproduction were founding and stamping. These methods progressed into lithography. This was the first time that there was a new, direct process for reproducing something. The big breakthrough in reproduction, however, came with the invention of photography. This advancement totally shifted our perception of reproduction.

If a photograph is taken of a work of art, whoever views this photograph will gain a great sense of what the work of art looks like, even if they have never seen the original in person before. The one thing they will lose, however, is the presence in time and space. Benjamin uses the example of a Cathedral. If you were to make your way to a Cathedral, you would be able to sense the aura, or uniqueness of this Cathedral. You get a great sense of the size of the Cathedral, how far away it is from other landmarks, etc. If you were to take a picture of this Cathedral, you would be able to capture nearly the full essence of it. You could display this photograph anywhere you choose and it surely would give anyone who looks at this picture a good idea of what the Cathedral looks like. They would not, however, be able to sense its presence this Cathedral has in time and space. A photograph of a Cathedral changes the “tradition” of viewing it; hence, reproduction takes away from the authenticity of a work of art or experience. Benjamin sums it up by saying “instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice-politics.” A reproduction can free a work of art or a moment in time captured in a photograph from ritual, but it also introduces a whole new perception as to what the actual work of art or moment in time stands for.