L'œil distrait

Provided it is not perceived negatively, distraction has the capacity to reveal new forms of perception. In this book, we argue that, in the words of S. Kracauer and W. Benjamin, distraction enables us to see images more clearly, even if they are not deliberately focused on. Distraction functions not only as a theoretical mechanism for reexamining photographs, paintings, and films in close detail, but also as a visual operation capable of drawing attentional circuits or extracting oneself from them. The act of observing images with a distracted eye engages a method of analysis that can elaborate on what the gaze ignores, neglects, or glosses over, while articulating it to what is a matter of remarkable visual attraction. A comprehensive examination of both still and moving images reveals that distraction is a form of sensitive experience, prompted by the environment to be contemplated with a renewed perspective.