In A Way By Teju Cole Summary

Teju Cole makes an interesting point about the depth of information one can glean from photographs, and any object in general. There is the superficial: what the object is, what it does, what the photograph captured, etc. But there is also the more profound like the reason for why the photographs no longer belong to their subjects and why they are now in the hands of “secondhand dealers and estate sales.” In a way, this reminded me of impressionism and Heart of Darkness in that Lee seemed particularly fascinated by the story behind the photographs, both of those pictured and why they no longer possess it. He focuses on the ‘outer shell,’ the hazy background of the photographs that he will most likely never precisely figure out, rather than