Initially I was asked to read Fred Ritchin’s- After Photography. I was asked to summarise each chapter in note form and then write a little summary and review of 2 chapters of my choice. This task was challenging as not only did I have to read the book but I also had to think carefully about what the book expresses. After Reading Fred Richins- A pixellated press I was interested to see what this book would bring. I would reccomend those who are interested in photography and transitions of the development from analogue to the digital present should without a doubt give the book a read.
Chapter 1: Into the digital
- Emphasises our shift from analogue to digital photography
- ‘By the year 2010 it is expected we will be producing half a trillion photographs annually’- showing accessibility today
- Is aware of the changes of technology however empty it is
- States that digital technology changes the function of the photograph itself as a document
Chapter 2: Of pixels and paradox
- Discusses image manipulation
- Draws on the consequences of this
- How celebrities are easy prey
- Shows the national geographic front cover and how two Egyptian pyramids were altered making them closer together- said to have began from then.
- How ‘technology allows us to do many things but that does not mean that we must do them.
Chapter 3: From Zero to One
- Draws on Susan Sontag and our role of using photographs for tourism
- ‘Does travel have to be a strategy for accumulating photographs’
- Ritchin argues with digital photography “the originality and spontaneity of experience is at stake, with a chance to be revived”
- Contextualisation of digital imaging- we can be manipulated by images to make us feel a certain way.
Chapter 4: Mosaic connections
- Photographs pixels – ‘configured to “serve as doors of perception”’
- Images and their meanings are open to diverse interpretations
- The endless possibilities of what a photograph can be
- Not entirely sure what to make of this chapter (quite complex).
Chapter 5: Image, war, legacy
- War photography- an eye witness
- Media responses created by both amateurs and professionals
- When the photographers recounted their conflict images soon after the incident- ‘an alienated reality’
- Although there are some compelling and cinematic images created by professional photographers at war, often the snapshots on the soldiers phones or iPods are the most effective of all.
Chapter 6: Beginning the conversation
- Photographs can stimulate the viewer
- Use of Virtual media productive and practical for the user
- Challenge the limitations of story telling
- We are taking advantage of a digital environment
- New content produced- new potential
Chapter 7: The social photograph
- Open-ended environment- amateur photographers today
- Bring surprises to the image world
- Photography has been viewed as too pedestrian to be an art
- Social networking websites- images more out there
- It is now possible for the amateur to provide his or her own evidence of an event without the need for a press pass.
Chapter 8:Toward a hyperphotography
- In comparison to analogue photography, digital opens up an alternative approach to the relationship between light, space, time
- A new paradigm- hyperphotography
- Analogue is discreet, only captures a fraction of a second
- On the other hand digital represents a moment but it can be easily lengthened
- Avatars- realistic looking imagery of people developed
Chapter 9: of synthetics and Cyborgs
- Technologies allowing us to see more- ultrasounds of foetus’
- GPS systems-tracking, face recognition software
- It opens up more possibilities but our ruling can be cloudy
- We adapt to our synthetic universe telling ourselves we are better for it- really we distance ourselves from the problems in the world
Chapter 10: A quantum leap
- Technology- a quantum world of opportunities
- An evolution
- ‘Emerging flexibilities of photography’s digital incarnation’
- Photographs- a segment of time
- Offers prospects not assurances
Chapter 2: of pixels and paradox
This being my favorite chapter in the book, explains the extent to which photographs are manipulated. It expresses how when we look at advertisements and nowadays we presume that there has been some alterations to the image itself. It is shocking how we just accept this rather than question it. The chapter demonstrates a notable cover from the national geographic 1982. In the picture the pyramids have been altered so that they appear closer together to fit onto the cover. This has been said to be the first lie in image manipulation. After reading this argument it does make me think that perhaps as a photographer we should not rely so much on altering our images and instead perhaps compose them initially before we take the picture. I do think that image manipulation is an incredible practice however for the right reasons. Initially the chapter introduces how Ritchin himself was offered his own manipulations of his image for a photograph taken for a major magazine. Although photography has proven useful for example in uncovering obscurities it can be used as a device to be creative and in many ways an art.
Chapter 5: Image, War, Legacy
Chapter 5 discusses photography and documentary. The chapter initially discusses photography as coming across in the media as a virtual reality however photographer such as Cindy Sherman who have made photography into a act or prop have finally shown that there can be a disconnect between the content and the image being declared true. In matters of war and destruction where the governments inner circle decide what is shown at what is not, photographers have been forced to sign agreements as conditions of access declaring what they will show. It seems that in the past where there has been an opportunity to photograph the chaos and brutality of the war, it has been deemed ‘uncivilized’ and there has been little coverage on the matter in the media. I think that this chapter argues well the concept of how down to political power and capitalism photographers have been held back from uncovering the truths of war and images can be camouflaged so to speak or kept away from our
accessible digital network. The images used to highlight this chapter have been interesting such as the image of president bush holding a turkey in front of some troops but it was uncovered once I read on that in actual fact the image was posed with a turkey used for decoration.
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