Digital Imaging
Digital imaging inevitably undermines photography’s status as an essentially truthful medium. Discuss.
Until recently, at least, it was possible to define photography as a process involving optics, light sensitive material and the chemical processing of this material to produce prints or slides. Today though, that definition is subject to change. Technological innovations…are shifting photography from its original chemical basis towards electronics… It is not overstating it to say that the advent of this new technology is changing the very nature of photography, as we have known it. (Bode and Wombell 1991)
In the last decade computer technology has been introduced to photography yet again challenging the meaning of photography. This relatively new digital technology allows the photographic image to be easily manipulated or modified. The pace of change in how images can be produced, circulated and consumed has been rapid causing a tidal wave of journalistic and critical attention. It is viewed that the manipulation of the photographic image may lead to a profound undermining of photography’s status as a truthful form of displaying images. The photograph does no longer necessarily show the truth or the true image. Once digitised a photograph can be altered in many ways, the texture, tone, form and colour can be changed pixel by pixel, the focus can be sharpened, things can be taken out or replicated or the original image can be combined with another. It is also far more difficult to detect changes made with computerised alterations where as older methods of alterations are far easier to detect. With the increasing accessibility and use of digital imaging technology, anyone possessing suitably, reasonably well priced equipment, i.e. – a pc, relevant software and a scanner can make these alterations and radically alter the content and appearance of a photograph as well as create seamless interweaving of separate images.
In 1991 an exhibition called photo video: Photography in the age of the computer was held at The Photographers Gallery, London. In the exhibition and the book of the same title the authors sketched out the implications of encoding photographs as ‘units of electronic information’:
1) A shift in the location of photographic production; from the chemical darkroom to
the ‘electronic darkroom’ of the computer
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...d photography has been extremely advantageous even if it does take the truth out of it. These advantages have been felt mainly by artists and advertising designers. There are fewer problems with morals and ethics in these fields as art is not about showing truthful images and neither art nor advertising ever claimed to be unmanipulated. Artists now have a wider range of tools and effects they can use to create innovative and interesting images. Graphic designers have also benefited as they can now take a single photograph of something and digitally place it into a different photographic scene. It is also possible for designers to change things like the size, colour and shape of the subject in the photograph they are working with.
Digital technology is affecting photography and the photographic image in many different ways. There have been both advantages and disadvantages to be seen. It is apparent that the photograph is being thought of as less reliable but at the same time more interesting and artistic. After weighing everything up it is my view that digital technology has contributed in making photography a more powerful medium and that we stand to gain a great deal from it.
Gustavon, Todd. Camera: A History of Photography from daguerreotype to Digital. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing, 2009. Intro p.2
Anyone today would agree that as far as photography is concerned, we have most certainly advanced far beyond what many of photography’s pioneers could have possibly imagined. The ease in which we are so readily able to document our lives through photos, along with the quality of those photos, is simply amazing. However, there is a certain authenticity that is found in the antiquated processes of photography that modern pictures simply can’t deliver.
Susan Sontag’s essay on how photography has limited people’s understanding of the world contains many interesting points that can be agreeable while at the same time having few that I tend to disagree with. Photography can be good and bad; it can open our minds up to new cultures and experiences through its imagery. However, at the same time it can limit our understanding of the world around us and of the world around the image it is portraying.
Photography has been around for nearly 200 years and has advanced dramatically with the new technology. In 1826, when the first photograph was taken photography was a very basic art form, but soon after photographers figured out how to manipulate their photos. In today’s society, it is almost unheard of to look at photographs that are raw and unedited, but has it always been this way? Dating back to the first photograph in 1826 by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, photography seemed to be raw, but only a few decades after those photographers discovered they could alter their photos to make them more appealing (“Harry Ransom Center”). Over the past 200 years photos of all different subjects have been manipulated through history and technology seems to be the culprit.
In the beginning of the story, her father loses her in card game. Even after losing his only daughter in a card game, her father seems more upset at the thought of losing his riches. Then, when Beauty goes to stay with the Tiger, the first, and only, thing he asks for is to see her naked. At this point Beauty has decided to not be a victim and states “For now my own skin was my sole capital in the world and today I 'd make my first investment.” With this in mind she gives Tiger a counteroffer for her virginity, but not her looks or vulnerability. After the Tiger refuses her offer, Beauty goes to her room and discovers a wind up doll that looks exactly like her, and she muses that they both mean the same to the men of the world. Then, because Beauty would not bare herself to the Tiger, the Tiger bares himself to Beauty. Beauty ends up showing herself to the Tiger once she realizes that they both have the same meaning to men, and that she should just give in. That she should stop fighting and just accept the non-human self that the men see her as
According to Paolo Cherchi Usai: “Moving image preservation will be redefined as the science of gradual loss and the art of coping with the consequences, very much like a physician who has accepted the inevitability of death even while he fights for the patient’s life” (Death 24x Second, Laura Mulvey, p17). Furthermore, due to the improving of technology, there is always something been replace by another. Such as analogue camera has been replaced by digital camera, telephone has been replaced by smartphone, and television has been replaced by computer. “… the digital, as an abstract information system, made a break with analogue imagery, finally sweeping away the relation with reality, which had, by and large, dominated the photographic tradition…” (Death 24x a Second, Laura Mulvey, p18). But fortunately, photography didn’t been replace by film, that is maybe due to a reason of photography has always had its own complex engagement with time and movement which is different with film (Lecture note,
Photography was first introduced in England during the late 1830’s, during the early years of photography, photographs were not judged on whether something was right or wrong, people believed every photograph they saw, they believed that a camera does not lie and that a photograph is a representation of the truth but photography is now associated with digital manipulation, nearly everyone questions the truth of a photograph.
Here, we will be looking at a rendition of the high marble statue of Augustus Caesar known as “Augustus of Prima Porta.” Originating from 1st Century A.D., it is said that there is a possibility that the original sculpture could have been of greek descent. Upon a general overview of the sculpture, one can see that Augustus fulfils a millitarial role of some kind. From his very stance to the garments portrayed on him, Augustus is draped in a decorative cuirass and a tunic, accompanied by a figure of Cupid clutching on to his right calf. After taking the general themes of the work into account, one can then began to start unraveling the many symbolic elements embedded into the sculpture that allude to godly themes. Starting from the crown of his head, the very chiselment and structure of his face gives the work a youthful element to it, even though some say that Augustus was around 40 years old. A recurring theme within Greek and Roman culture is the matter of godliness and immortality amongst idolized figures themselves. This idea is usually depicted by displaying powerful human being in a younger light. This
Photography is a mindful medium of expression, perspective, interpretation and can sometimes be truth. The changes throughout the history of photography have changed how people see the image they're looking at. In the 19th century, they were no editing options or software of any kind. You just go through the process and take the photo and people could easily tell it was real. Of course it would a shock to see what was once a real life event in that time period, but then transferred on paper "capturing" the moment itself. The truth could easily been seen, now in the 21st century, most of that has changed. There are
Piracy is primarily a problem for the entertainment and software industries, and therefore piracy most often involves violations of copyright law. Copyright is a legal right that protects creative works from being reproduced, performed, or disseminated without permission of the copyright owner. Essentially, a copyright gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of the material in question.
What do you consider art? Paintings, sculptures, drawings, or maybe something else. I know, when I think of art, I think of photography. Photography Is used for business, science, manufacturing, art, recreational purposes, mass communication, and more. Photography is using light to do amazing things, and some people think of photography as a story that just needs to be told. Ansel Adams probably believed this. He said, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Photography has a long interesting history, like the fact that the word photography is made up of two greek words, photos meaning ‘light’ and graphein which is ‘to draw’ ! Photography also has some complicated techniques to get a hang of taking good photos. Have you heard of the rule of thirds? Or do you know how a camera works? Well, that will all be explained. Maybe, by the end you will take up photography too. This essay will explore the history and types of cameras and the basic rules for taking photographs.
In Sontag’s On Photography, she claims photography limits our understanding of the world. Though Sontag acknowledges “photographs fill in blanks in our mental pictures”, she believes “the camera’s rendering of reality must always hide more than it discloses.” She argues photographs offer merely “a semblance of knowledge” on the real world.
Beauty and the Beast is probably one of the most well known fairy tales that the Grimms’ reproduced. In it’s original form it was a long, drawn out story that was catered to adults. The Grimms’ changed the story to be more understood by children and made it short and to the point. Unlike many of the other fairy tales that they reproduced, Beauty and the Beast contains many subtle symbols in its purest form. It shows a girl and how she transfers to a woman; it also shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The one major thing that separates this story from all the rest is that Beauty gets to know the Beast before marrying him.
Environmental concerns have slowed down production particularly in the United States. This is due to the fact that the current production of aquaculture worldwide is not sustainable, with how the population is growing. Certain methods that breed too often have been thrown under the bus. But as far as the seafood production goes, seafood from aquaculture is healthier than seafood from wild capture.
In almost all areas, photography is used. From 1827-2014, it is still present and still being enhanced. From film photographs to digital photographs, camera companies today keep improving their cameras. They keep enhancing their cameras to produce better quality and resolution for photographs. Even non-professional photographers today buy and use their own camera to take their own photographs. Even cellphones today have their own built-in cameras.