Aura is a kind of unapproachability, that is, the unique phenomenon of a distance however close it may be.
Aura is all that is fascinating in a work of art, derived from its unique existence which endows it with symbolic authority. Its authority turns on the phenomenon of distance, that of the past and tradition.
Aura's loss is associated with an aesthetic impoverishment, a loss of cultural value and a severing of the connection with the past... the autonomy of the image is one of the fetishes of capitalism.
Aura is appearance of a distance, however close the thing that calls it forth. The trace, by contrast, is appearance of a nearness, however far removed the thing that left it behind may be. In the trace, we gain possession of the thing... in the aura, it takes possession of us.
Aura is a related to notions of uniqueness and authenticity, both of which become irrelevant in arts such as film which are eminently replicable in nature.
Aura is that whereby a thing, on the basis of its unbridgeable distance, takes possession of us... just as a trace is a kind of left-behind nearness that allows us to gain possession of a thing.