Die Geschichte handelt von Sachen, die man sehen kann, von Bildern und Zeichen.
English:
The story is about things that a person can see; it's made out of pictures and signs.
Philip gets scolded by a worker in a publishing house for wasting his trip to the USA, for not writing anything. All he's accomplished is take a lot of photos. Phil explains himself by saying that he will use those photos to write the story. The story is made out of photos, which provide proof of life. This explanation is close to Phil's state of mind; his desire to find himself, to prove his existence to himself.
Wenn man durch Amerika fährt, dann passiert da was mit einem durch die Bilder, die man sieht, und der Grund warum ich so viele Fotos gemacht hat, das ist ein Teil der Geschichte.
English:
Seeing the images while traveling through America, something happens to a person. The reason I took so many photos is because they are a part of the story.
The movie starts with Phil taking a photo while sitting on a beach. Almost the entire beginning of the movie is made out him taking photos of the places he goes through. The lack of dialogue at the beginning indicates Phil's loneliness and isolation he feels in a foreign place. The movie picks up the pace only when he meets Alice and her mother at the airport, indicating the removal from the lonely state.
Das Hören und Sehen vergeht einem, wenn man das Gefühl von sich selbst verloren hat, und das hast du schon lang verloren.
English:
The senses of hearing and seeing are lost, when a person loses a sense of self, and you lost that long ago.
Before kicking Phil out of her apartment, saying that she no longer wants him to stay there, his friend from New York makes an analysis of his psyche after Phil confides in her about his feelings of depression and sense of loss. She tells him that he lost himself, that he needs proof of his existence to himself and that the photos he takes are a part of that need.
