#geoff dyer

[schizografia]

Era un periodo esaltante per vivere a Città del Messico. Per citare le celebri parole di Bob Dylan, «la sera c'era musica nei caffè e la rivoluzione nell'aria». E c'erano anche feste sfrenate, durante le quali Weston si divertiva a vestirsi con gli abiti di Tina e a sbevazzare tequila, sfoggiando i suoi seni finti («con bottoncini rosa come capezzoli») e ostentando le sue «gambe con giarrettiere rosa in modo assolutamente indecente». Il fatto che queste buffonate «scioccassero» alcuni spettatori non faceva che accrescere il suo divertimento. Ma per quanto inebriante e liberatoria, la relazione della coppia si fece sempre più tesa. Come in ogni ambiente bohémien che si rispetti, insistevano entrambi di avere diritto ad altri amanti. Invece di eliminare la gelosia, questa soluzione non fece che aumentarla. Le numerose fotografie scattate da Weston a Tina mentre prende il sole, nuda, sull'Azotea sono magnifiche, infiammate di desiderio, ma il ritratto del 1924 registra le tensioni e le frustrazioni che covavano sotto una relazione apparentemente aperta e idilliaca. Con la sua commistione di intensità emotiva-sessuale e di ossessiva precisione tecnica, la descrizione data da Weston del modo in cui nacque il ritratto non ha eguali nella storia della fotografia: «Mi chiamò nella sua stanza e le nostre labbra si incontrarono per la prima volta dopo la notte di Capodanno. Lei si gettò sul mio corpo prono, premendo forte -forte - squisite possibilità - poi il campanello della porta suonò...». L’incanto si ruppe, ma la mattina seguente, sotto lo splendente sole messicano, Weston decise di fare un ritratto che avrebbe «rivelato ogni cosa, qualche cosa, della tragedia della nostra vita attuale». E fu cosi che Tina appoggiata contro una parete bianca - le labbra tremanti - le narici dilatate - gli occhi cupi come nuvole cariche di pioggia - mi avvicinai - le sussurrai qualcosa e la baciai - una lacrima le solcò la guancia - e allora catturai quell'istante per sempre - fammi vedere F.8-1/10 sec. filtro K 1 - pellicola pancromatica - quanto suona brutale, meccanico, calcolato - eppure quanto spontaneo e genuino in realtà - perché ho un tale controllo dei meccanismi della mia macchina che essa funziona rispondendo ai miei desideri - l'otturatore coordinandosi al mio cervello viene rilasciato in un modo tanto naturale quanto sarebbe muovere il braccio - sto cominciando ad avvicinarmi a un vero risultato nella fotografia [···] Il momento della nostra reciproca emozione restò impresso sulla pellicola d’argento - quelle emozioni furono liberate subito dopo - ci trasferimmo dal bagliore del sole sui muri candidi nella buia camera di Tina - la sua pelle olivastra e i suoi capezzoli scuri apparvero sotto una mantella nera - tirai il laccio...

Geoff Dyer, L'infinito istante. Saggio sulla fotografia

[lascitasdelashoras]

Geoff Dyer and John Berger, by Jean Mohr

[writerswritecompany]

Geoff Dyer is a British author, born on 5 June 1958. In this post, we share the award-winning writer's 10 rules for writing fiction.

Geoff Dyer’s 10 Rules For Writing Fiction

In this post from Writers Write, we share award-winning British author, Geoff Dyer's 10 rules for writing fiction.

[swartzmark]

From Geoff Dyer's preface to Roland Barthes's Camera Lucida

[novlr]

“Do it every day. Make a habit of putting your observations into words and gradually this will become instinct.” — Geoff Dyer

[angloirishnolanist]

not the previous anon but i haven’t read it!!! can you post it?

[denimbex1986]

Cillian Murphy shares his 10 favourite books of all time

Cillian Murphy almost had a music career.

'Before he became one of cinema’s most prolific actors, Cillian Murphy was all set for a music career. He even attracted an incredibly tempting recording contract but changed course at the last minute to pursue a career in the movie business instead. Now, he stands as one of the greatest actors of a generation, bringing a mosaic of weird and wonderful characters to life on screen, including Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and the more recent J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer.

As someone who once said, “I’m less interested in the good man’s life, I’m more interested in the conflicted man’s life or the contradictory man’s life”, Murphy’s interest in books comes as no surprise – particularly as many of his favourites tackle subjects like the complexities of human existence. For example, he cites Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara as one he regards highly after being drawn into “the atmosphere and pressure of what it must have been like to be alive in America at that time”.

Similarly, John Healy’s The Grass Arena makes the cut for the power held over Murphy, who decided to read the book after years of recommendations. “It is the story of determination and rebirth,” Murphy says. “The tale of a chess champion who overcomes a savage childhood to live again. A powerful book indeed”.

One of the more heartbreaking works comes with Patrick McGabe’s The Butcher Boy, which details the story of a young boy who descends upon a fantasy world to escape from his troubling home life. For Murphy, the book left a lasting impression on account of its ability to blend a series of dichotomous emotions: “[It’s] dark, fiercely funny, compassionate, and unashamedly Irish. Its depiction of a young boy’s descent into isolation and madness in small-town Ireland has never left me”.

Meanwhile, one of Murphy’s all-time favourite Irish writers is John Banville, who also became known for his humour and sharp, wintery wit. His 2000 novel Eclipse, while being a complete contrast to The Butcher Boy, also etched its world into the mind of Murphy. “In this beautifully mediative tale,” he says, “Alexander Cleave is a celebrated actor who returns to live in his childhood home. The book seemingly has little or no plot, but the sheer towering beauty of its language, atmosphere and insight make it impossible to put down or to forget.”

The late J. P. Donleavy, best known for his novel The Ginger Man, was an Irish writer who wasn’t afraid to completely disrupt the common consensus. So much so that The Ginger Man was actually initially banned in the United Kingdom and Ireland for its obscenity. According to Murphy, this is a book designed to be “savoured over the course of a life”. He also praises its subject matter, stating that its mischief and humour go perfectly with its empathy, particularly in relation to the “outsider struggling to imagine a purpose in this world”.

Cillian Murphy’s 10 favourite books:

The Ginger Man – J. P. Donleavy The Butcher Boy – Patrick McGabe Eclipse – John Banville The Sportswriter – Richard Ford Rabbit Angstrom – John Updike Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi – Geoff Dyer Grief is the Thing with Feathers – Max Porter The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway The Grass Arena – John Healy Appointment in Samarra – John O’Hara'

[kitchen-light]

So at some point I privately commit to doing a book, and let a certain amount of material accumulate. After a number of words have been amassed I can begin to relax—there will be a book—and from that point on, my need for discipline diminishes because there’s no need for it. Writing the book becomes all I want to do. The quantity of words increases and, simultaneously, some sense of form emerges, a form uniquely appropriate to the subject matter and growing directly out of the material. Great happiness ensues. It’s worth adding—because it’s something I'm grappling with at the moment, with a new book—that I failed to complete the tennis book partly because I let too much material accumulate without organizing it, and it became this swampy mess I could not find a way of navigating through.

Geoff Dyer, from “The essayist on not having a career”, Interview between Geoff Dyer and James Surowiecki, The Yale Review, December 6, 2022