Document Type : Research Article

Author

• mohamad hasanpur

Ph.D candidate in Art Research, University of Tehran; Faculty Member of Sistan and Baluchistan University.

Abstract

Based on the traditional system of human sensory classification, photographs are considered to belong to the visual sense, and they are regarded merely as visual document, but in the process of understanding and interpreting of the photograph, all that is narrated in the photo is not visible, and the other human senses also are involved in the text analysis. In the social history of the senses, the position of human senses such as olfaction, touch, hearing, and taste in the encounter and analysis of the historical text is studied and investigated by historians. Therefore, in the present discussion, the photograph as a historical document is the point of interference of "what is seen" with the senses that are understandable but invisible. olfaction is one of the main senses that is directly related to reception of memories from the past and it is nostalgic, thus, it is closely associated with the concept of ‘memory work’ in the photograph analysis area and with the meaning association especially in social photograph area that is related to human everyday life. Therefore, based on the social history of senses, work of memory is investigated in the photographs that are as a document from the olfactory history in the social context.
Research questions: The main question is how can the smelling sense be read in the photograph context and, accordingly, how a deeper understanding of the past that is represented by the photograph is obtained? In addition, this question can also be asked that whether in the process of perceiving a photograph, in addition to the visual sense, what is a function of other senses, and so what is the significance of human emotional-based analysis in interpreting social photographs? based on the research questions, it can be assumed that social photographs, due to their inherent connection with the historical past and narration, can closely be associated with the perceptions from the past, which can be perceived through olfaction sense, feelings such as nostalgia and deep retrieval of memories; the olfaction by its close connection with the rebirth of nostalgic memories and thoughts is always implied by a priori familiarization. In this research, the cultural and social history of the smell and its relation to the analysis and interpretation of social photographs were dealt with. It was concluded that olfaction, along with the visual sense that is base of the photograph historical documentary, provides complex perception in the understanding of what is present in the photograph. Paying attention to the olfactory sense in the photograph understanding connects the “memory work” and perception of objects, things, situations and the individuals present in the photograph with the experienced conditions where the audience of the photo lived in and basically had an ancestral understanding of them, and thus, a more vivid understanding of the text of the photograph is obtained.

Keywords

• Social photography
• cultural history
• the social history of the senses
• the memory work