I was expecting a summary of the essay but instead he talks more about the politicization of art and the rise of fascism. This I feel is more due to the times when the essay was written, 1936, when fascism was rising in Germany, which is where Walter Benjamin was born. He was also a German Jew and fled the Nazi regime and moved to Paris. From there he again fled to southern France and then Spain where he committed suicide. A really tragic end, and ultimately such a waste of life and particularly in his case, a waste of such a brilliant mind.

The ideas expressed in this essay are nothing short of phenomenal. The notion that mechanical reproduction strips the aura from the work of art is inspiring. I went to a gallery the other day and could really see this in action, that the statues and paintings have a real presence about them but as soon as I saw the reproductions of the artwork in the form of photographs or drawings printed in books, the aura was gone.

His explanation of what the aura is was also revealing. The way he connected it to a belief system such as religion and the works of art were fetishist is such an insight. Then to assert that this part of the aura is then replaced with portraits and especially family portraits also makes sense. The truth in this can be seen in the way that people carry photographs of loved ones in their wallets or have images of family members as part of their screen saver on a computer.

Then the way he explored film was equally insightful. I really liked the way he suggested that a screen actor is different to a stage actor and how the aura changes between the two. The stage actor relies on the presence of the actor before the audience, but the screen actor relies on the presence of the character. This in itself is a huge change and has parallels with photography, that it is the subject matter rather than the artefact that has the presence.

However there were times of when I felt lost with his arguments, but this just means there is more for me to discover. I do honestly feel that this is a truly wonderful piece of philosophy that deserves its reputation as a classic.