On "Mirrors, Windows, and Mosaics"

Fred Ritchin begins his discussion of a new and collaborative way to interact with the photographic images by making the distinction between two ways of approaching the photographic image: the "mirror" and the "window." In the "mirror" we approach the photograph as a way of seeing how the photographer is reflecting themselves in the photograph; the "window" is the photographer's attempt to explore the world outside of themselves. Ritchin's example of Walker Evan's photographs of Depression Era United States suggests that these two ways of seeing are not mutually excessive and that the photograph can be an exploration of the world while also revealing the photographer's personal bias and imagination, his so called "self-expression." I agree with Ritchin's thesis that photographs can reveal both window and mirror. On a surface level, my desire to explore the world around me, this little locale called Eugene, is a window endeavor. At the same time I feel my choice of subject, my own inner biases, my technical knowledge, all result in images that are a reflection of my self: I do see them as artifacts of "self-expression" beyond the represented exploration of the world.
Ritchin then offers an alternative to the notion of mirror/window in regard to digital imagery, namely "mosaic." He argues that the photograph, the digital image, should not be a static entity because its claims to truth are obsolete. If claims to truth cannot be attained in the digital image, why not add contextual information (through "hyper-texts") that would allow a "multiplicity of voices" to engage in the dialogue of the digital image? The meaning of the image, already elusive, would be given greater contextual weight through the contributions of many. Although I find this idea of an evolving image to be appealing, I am also horrified at the possibility of manipulation of my image to be taken far out of the context that I would wish it to maintain (Ritchin also mentions this danger). Considering, the innumerable videos on Youtube, and the innumerable commentary that accompanies those images, sometimes vapid and sometimes malicious, I would never submit my images to such scrutiny and manipulation. Ritchin's example of the family photograph with grandma holding a bible would be the extent to what I would speculatively allow my photographs to be manipulated. Perhaps, the community of commentators would be only family members and close family friends. The community in this new age of the mosaic photograph, I feel, should be a limited one.

Selective Color Mirror

Split Tone Mirror

Desaturation and Luminence Black and White

HSL Black and White

Basic Black and White

"From Zero to One"

In the chapter "From Zero to One" Fred Ritchin explains that despite the loss of an image's truth value in an ocean of digital images, there is an opportunity for the image maker to evolve a new way of experiencing the world. In the example of the tourist who uses photography (or the act of taking a photograph) as a surrogate for actual experience, digital manipulation may free him from the usual tourist sites that have been photographed/experienced to the point of cliche. No longer will the tourist have to actually visit the "most photographed barn in America" or the Eiffel Tower. Digital manipulation can simulate those experiences without the tourist having to be present for those experiences. This usage of digital manipulation of tourist traps will allow the tourist to experience sites that are off the proverbial "beaten path." Tourist/photographers will now be more willing to explore, observe and capture more "idiosyncratic" places and objects, thus leading to a more enriched lived experience. This optimistic view of the manipulation possible in the digital age is somewhat tempered by Ritchin's belief that images should retain what journalistic and documentary quality that remains when we view images; although the semblance of truth in images is quickly disappearing in our society, that illusion of non-fictional image must be retained to prevent those in power to have the advantage of claiming a false truth or denying the validity of certain events like genocide.
Ritchin suggestion that there be a way of distinguishing the manipulated from the non manipulated images (meaning "modest" modifications in color, exposure, etc.) is not as easy a solution to implement into the wider culture. The problem is that there is an unwillingness to create a standard language of discriminating from manipulated to the non-manipulated from established media outlets. Without an agreed upon standard of interpreting media, and with a society that is media illiterate, the photograph, one of our "most effective reportorial media will be dissipated in the popular imagination." At the same time the potentials of the new digital technology will be "undercut." In the end, his view that the photograph should be seen as a visual "quotation" (not as the truth) seems valid to me. Photography should not lose its documentary quality but at the same time it should also be seen as an interpretation of an event, with the visual information in the image providing layers of meaning beyond that provided by the photographer or editor.

Color Checker: Studio with Tungsten

ColorChecker: Outdoors and Overcast

On "Of Pixels and Paradox"

After reading Fred Ritchin's chapter of Pixels and Paradox in his book After Photography, I have the depressing sense that image making in the digital age has lost any sort of personal meaning.  The sheer amount of images that we encounter and the validity of those images beg the question, is it worth making images?  I say, yes.  Perhaps my images will be lost as a drop in a vast bucket (www.photobucket.com) of images, but I know that my images, however insignificant, were made with a touch of my personality.  I know that my photographs were made at a certain time.  The subject of my photographs were seen with my eyes at a particular place and time of my life; the people in my photographs are recognizable to me and to themselves.  At the end of the day, this microcosmic recognition is what is most important to me.  Perhaps, in the future, if people do look at my photographs, they might look at it as something that is "generic and mass reproduced" (49), but that does not matter to me.  I know that I took the photograph, and at the time it was a unique moment for me and my subject.   Is this attitude toward my photographs enough to continue making images in this image saturated world?  Always the answer is, yes, because the act of photographing is what is important to me.  If anything, I want to print my photographs, to add that sort of preciousness that is missing from the digital file floating on the internet.  I want to grab my image out of the air.  I want  the floating signifier to float less and stay for a while.  The monetary incentive to make prints is secondary to my desire to turn my memories into a tangible object, something that I can carry with me, in my pocket, easily referenced without the need to retrieve it from a digital wasteland.

Ritchin's dystopian view of the world of images is rather disconcerting.  He mentions the idea of how our genotypes will be classified in the future and will be available for scrutiny (perhaps even through images).  We will become cyborgs like the "Replicants" in Bladerunner who are falsely assured of their humanity through faked childhood photographs.  Perhaps it is true that we are being deceived by the digital images that we make.  Perhaps we attribute too much of our humanity from false or manipulated images, but that is the condition of our age.  This digital world that we are born into is inescapable.  It is already written into our genomes.  I suppose it becomes, then, a matter of personal responsibility to create images that are personally valid.  If our images define who we are, and if that is a false or manipulated being, then it is up to the individual to project personal meaning into those images.  I feel that this is the only way to avoid (or at least alleviate) this feeling of digital alienation in world saturated with images.

Low Key Mirror

Heightened Mirror

Naturalistic Mirror

Ring Around: The Mirror