“Camera lucida. Commentary on Photography” (1980) by Roland Barthes is one of the first fundamental studies of the nature of photography and at the same time a homage to the author’s late mother. Interest in a photograph that accidentally fell into the hands of 1870 aroused Barthes' desire to find out what essential feature makes a photograph stand out from the entire body of images. Having asked the question of classification and systematization of photographs, the philosopher builds his own phenomenology, introducing the concepts of Studium and Punctum. Studium denotes the cultural, linguistic and political interpretation of photography, Punctum - a purely personal emotional meaning that allows you to establish a direct connection with the photographic image.