Abstract
The purpose of the article is to present the concept of the landscape of contemplation in relation to the reflections undertaken from Walter Benjamin and his concept of contemplative reception to the considerations by Thomas Elsaesser, who writes about the momentary suspension of attention in a state of distraction. The text is intended to point out the features and conditions that should be met in order to speak of a landscape of contemplation. Both technical issues (such as the use of appropriate cinematic means) and thematic representation are important. The author sees the potential in composing landscapes of contemplation arising from balancing on the border between film and photography, which, as it were, forces the viewer’s attention and stops the film shots for a longer period of time. Raymond Depardon’s film La vie moderne (2008) was used as an example of this, in which the director very aptly constructs (country) images of the province, using practices familiar to him from his work as a photojournalist. This results in the realization of a unique documentary film, expressing the ephemeral landscape of characters whose lives have been shaped by the surrounding nature.
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