Les Carnets du BAL is a series set up to work on what is at stake in the contemporary image and to take the notion of the visual document in all its variety. Each subject brings together theoretical contributions and presentations and readings of works by artists, philosophers, historians, anthropologists and critics, drawing on examples from photography, video and cinema. The sixth volume looks at what comes before the image: the apparatus, the instruments and the arrangements built in order to see. From the seminar held at the EHESS.