Barthes "It is impossible that words duplicate the image; in the movement from one structure to the other second signifieds are inevitably developed."

Casey Lurie, Wedding Photo from the New York Times, 2009 (currently on view at the Block). Casey says about this piece, "I came across an image on the New York Times website. In it, a young couple on their wedding day stand in front of a painted-sky backdrop in a photo studio, he wearing a formal Marine Corps uniform and she in a white wedding gown. A rather mundane photograph except for the fact that the groom’s face appears to be severely disfigured. It was part of a slide show of images related to the war in Iraq. I had a difficult time processing this image not only because it is clearly unsettling but, more than that, because in the slide show format it was sandwiched between other violent and disturbing images from the war. There was no way for me to really comprehend this image given the context. I wanted to know more about the couple: Tyler Ziegel and Renee Kline were high school sweethearts, and after high school Tyler joined the Marine Corps and was soon sent on his first tour of duty in Iraq. Upon his return Tyler and Renee were engaged, however he returned to Iraq for his second tour before they wed. Five months into his second tour, Tyler was part of a patrol convoy in the Anbar province when a suicide bomber blew up his truck. The next day he was flown to an Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas where he would undergo over 50 surgeries and 19 months of rehabilitation. He lost sight in his right eye, his ears were burned off, and some of his right hand and most of his left arm were amputated. In one of his surgeries part of his skull was removed and implanted into the fat of his torso to keep it moist and viable. Renee stayed with him for the duration of his rehabilitation, and soon after their return home to Metamora, Illinois they were married."