The democratization of the ability to look: About the photographic criticism of Juan José Millás

Abstract

The work of the Valencian writer Juan José Millás exhibits a base interest by mixing two traditionally differentiated fields: literature and journalism. In Todo son preguntas (2005) and El ojo de la cerradura (2006), Millás advances another step, linking with his work as a writer the reflection on the non-verbal branch of language. For that, he will appealto the record of the fiction writer, the newspaper columnist and the amateur photo critic, in order to expose the impressions generated by some images published in the newspaper El País. Because these images display a message of their own regardless of whether or not there is a verbal language that “explains” them, Millás could not assure that the viewers interpreted the photographs in a particular way from his intervention; his option will be to draw readers’ attention by offering them the tools to promote a personal critical look detached from the dominant ideology