Fragments, Futures, Absence and the Past

Book excerpt: According to Walter Benjamin, the past that is not recognized by the present threatens to disappear irretrievably. As a consequence, photographs cannot save the moment from oblivion by pure depiction alone, but only by keeping the depicted moment actual at every present moment. Instead of counting on the documentary quality of photography that speaks in the past tense of "what has been", Silke Helmerdig suggests a different approach to photography: an extension of a future subjunctive (photographic) tense speaking of "what could be, if", allowing one to think possible futures instead of harking back to the past.