To point is to direct attention — and in the world of photography, it becomes a metaphor for the medium itself: a visual imperative that says look here. In this incisive and playful essay, artist Joan Fontcuberta begins with the simple gesture of the pointing finger to unravel the complex relationship between photography and indexicality.
Taking Roland Barthes’s iconic notion — that every photograph declares “this has been” (“ça a été”) — Fontcuberta engages both critically and creatively with this idea. He questions the notion of a singular “this” in any given photograph, highlighting instead the image’s potential for multiplicity and ambiguity. When a finger points within the frame, what is being affirmed — reality, or performance?
These questions grow even more tangled in the context of post-photography and the rise of generative AI, where the evidentiary power of the image is further destabilized. Through a mix of critical theory, psychoanalytic insight, and autobiographical narrative, Fontcuberta challenges assumptions about photographic truth and authorship.
Interwoven with the text are two compelling visual essays featuring archival material from Alerta, a sensationalist Mexican tabloid active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Across these images, the recurring motif of the pointing finger acts as a surreal and at times comical thread, linking visual language, media spectacle, and social memory.