Anne Elnor's "The Use of Photos" is a diary that combines text and imagery, documenting the author's and her lover Mark Marley's lives between 2003 and 2004, particularly her experience of developing breast cancer. This work continues Erno's consistent writing style, focusing on the authenticity of life and showcasing philosophical reflections such as desire and death, existence and nothingness through multi angle captured images. The Use of Photos "was not only an experimental field for" The Years ", but also had an impact on Erno's later diary" The Darkroom ", in which" salvation "became an important theme. As Erno's only work co created with others, the 30 fragments in the book were independently written by two authors around 14 photos, showcasing the unique inclusiveness and fusion of visual diaries, while presenting fragmented narrative features.

Video Diary: A 'Conventional' Love Ceremony

An in-depth analysis of Anne Erno's work 'The Use of Photos' was conducted, exploring its uniqueness at the intersection of autobiography, self portrait, and visual biography. The work reproduces the experience of time in daily life through diary format. The insertion of 14 black and white photos not only anchors time, but also serves as the starting point for writing. These photos are arranged in chronological order, documenting life scenes from late 2002 to early 2004, intertwined with the author's breast cancer treatment and love story.

The dual imprint of image and text: the invisible body in love and pain

In depth exploration of the dual imprints of desire and death in images and texts, as well as their roles in individual perception and representation. Bataye believed that love and desire are the limits that can be represented, and "The Use of Photos" made the writing of love and desire possible through the product of the sexual practice of photography. The photos preserve the post sex scene in a materialized way, providing viewers with an immersive experience. Erno and Ma Li use both deduction and fantasy to recreate desire, guiding viewers to engage in a combination of intellectual thinking and personal experience. Photos become a carrier of fantasy due to the absence of the characters' bodies, and Erno attempts to guide readers to transform the photos into other scenes, achieving a telepathic recognition.

Writing Beyond Ethical Boundaries: Truth as the Sole Criterion

Deeply explored the book 'The Use of Photos' and analyzed how the author challenged social taboos through unconventional writing, with authenticity as the sole criterion. The book presents the difficult themes of sex and illness in the form of text and images, reflecting the author's subversive impulse catalyzed by desire. The author's inclination towards phallic worship and his imagination of the camera's phallus in his private writing demonstrate a thirst for knowledge and truth. Meanwhile, the author equates sexual desire with the desire for knowledge, echoing Plato's epistemology. The praise for photos in the book regards them as works of art, reflecting the joyful experience of artistic creation on both the physical and intellectual levels. The author believes that creation is a carrier of ideas and a process of life continuation, closely related to reproduction. In addition, the portrayal of cancer in the book reveals the reality of women's diseases that are obscured by society, and the author regains control over their own bodies through creation. The limitation of visual media lies in the inability to reproduce the passage of time, while text can reshape life experiences and stimulate readers' resonant identification. The Use of Photos "is an attempt to explore the literary possibilities of photography practice, but ultimately, writing driven by love and desire is a transcendent practice. Love and desire, as signifiers, attempt to replace the missing things, and the emergence of words confirms the absence of referents, making the desires of language itself nowhere to hide. This isomorphism between desire and love allows us to understand how words save specific moments of meaning from the river of time, soothing the pain of the author's photography.