The Noumenon Revelation: Anti-Chunking

Neurolinguistics now have at their disposal increasingly sophisticated equipment for mapping the brain as it processes language, and have discovered that the two quite distinct kinds of language development -- acquiring a lexicon and mastering syntax -- occur in different areas. [...] The syntax center is not only independent from word deposits but adjacent to where we process music.

[...] Routinely, analysis of music employs linguistic terms -- phrase, meaning, idea -- because "our brains treat musical phrases and spoken phrases similarly, suspending comprehension as a phrase arrives, then pausing to gulp the whole thing down." This "chunking" is the essential work of syntax, and it is how we make meaning [...]

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I can't help but apply this text of Ellen Bryant Voigt (quoting, in part, Chomsky) to the habit of seeing a photograph, particularly a photographer's habit of seeing. And I do mean habit in the negative sense of the word. When we look at a photo, we suspend our ideas of what it's supposed to be 'of' for about two seconds, maybe shorter. Then, there's another pause, two or three more seconds (ish), before we have "chunked" it into a greater meaning, generally including a personal inclination toward or against the image. It's a habit not to go backwards -- for instance, once the image has been taken as a whole (and decisions have been made about it), it's habitual and constantly tempting not to value or return to those three or four seconds of suspension-of-knowledge about the photograph.

However, I think those seconds are the best seconds, they're akin to opening an envelope before you know exactly what's inside. For me, the most common time to capture those seconds is when I first see print images I shot on film. I knew what was in the viewfinder, and I had a pretty good idea of what my manual settings would transfer -- but in no way could I accurately Expect what I would hold in my hands.