«Perché non mi hai riconosciuto»: Nabokov e Tournier nel Photomatic

Among the many artists fascinated by the passport photo booth in the early Seventies, Michel Tournier and Vladimir Nabokov stand out. This essay explores how each writer incorporates the Photomatic into their work, focusing on key novel sequences from "Les Météores" and "Transparent Things", a late masterpiece by the Russian-American author. While both writers position the Photomatic as a pivotal narrative device, the booth – initially an unassuming, mechanical dispenser of ugly passport photos – quickly acquires an almost mystical and fateful significance. More than just a turning point in their stories, the Photomatic ultimately reveals the profound differences in their artistic visions: Tournier’s engagement with perverse structures contrasts sharply with Nabokov’s drive toward sublimation.