Woolen theorises that photography is dominated by the concept of time. The camera [photographic] is a device that stops time and preserves fragments of the past, this is in contrast tot he practice of film-making, which seeks instead to dominate the flowing passages of time.
The moving picture almost always has a discernible narrative, abstract films being the exception. This is evident even in the earliest examples of film-making: The Lumiere Brother's 'L'Arroseur Arrose', which at least contains a minimal narrative. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frl0K09o-KA]
On the flip side, photography can exist without any discernible narrative whatsoever; rather narrative is generated as a result of audience perspective and experience.
Woolen states that film is like fire, and photography like ice. Film is light, shadow, incessant motion, transience and flicker; whereas photography is motionless and frozen. It has a cryogenic power to preserve objects through time.
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