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In Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes’ classic work on photography, discusses an element he calls the "punctum," the detail that pierces the frozen surface of the photograph to provoke an unexpected emotional response. The punctum, for Barthes, is a private experience, completely subjective. There is no science to it, it simply happens. Something reaches out and grabs you by the shirt or it does not. The punctum depends upon processes of mechanical reproduction for its existence; it is the misbehaving detail that challenges the photograph's dry facility. The punctum itself can never be the subject of the photograph by definition; it is redundant, excessive, and supplementary. The punctum sees Barthes at his most maddeningly complex; it is not a concept you can necessarily use as part of an efficient interpretive strategy. The photographs that work for Barthes are comprised of two elements, the studium and the punctum. A first element is a set of ideas to which one gains access to the symbolic. This domain for Barthes opens up a cultural and political prospect that permits interpretation of photographs and the intentions of the photographer. This field generates a kind of general interest and moderate enthusiasm, which Barthes re