INITIAL IDEAS AND RESEARCH [PERSONAL]
Despite already having discussed as a collective some initial ideas and thoughts as to what could be explored in our work, I wanted to pin point what I personally found interesting when considering the overarching title of 'What photography is' :
Possibilities of photography : [Practical and theoretical]
-Recording of light (Indexicality)
-Reproduction of reality
-Device for remembering / forgetting
-Still/moving image relationship
-Glass plates / Film negatives Digital / Analogue
-Relationship with the image and computers/technologies..JPEG/RAW/ALGORITHEMS
-what actually is a digital image? what is is made up of?
-Megadata/Pixels
-How much control do we have over our images? analogue VS digital
-The 'screen' as photographic display..'Cameras, computers and display - David Bate
-Conventional ways of displaying photography...how does this effect the audiences perception/experience?
-Is the computer now the camera?
-Indexicality of the image, partially the digital
-Image storage, and new possibilities arisen as a result of digital revolution
-The fate of the digital image online
-Human/non human actors...how much control do we have over our images once transformed into a digital file?
-Corruption/Deletion/Errors...COMPARED to physical film negatives and prints..only physical damage, physical loss?
OVERVIEW OF KEY IDEAS:
-Digital VS Analouge
-Role of computer in image making
-Control over our images once digital
-Screen as display of photographic display
-What is an image made up of?
-Bridging gap between digital and analogue.. makeshift negative
-Do handprints still contain 'aspects' of digital? or completely removed..
After reviewing my preliminary thoughts and ideas, I have come to the conclusion that I will start this project by creating work that questions photography's materiality. Looking into the history of the medium, and how far it has come since its invention in the eighteen hundreds, and considering our growing intimate relationship to it with regards to the everyday. The idea that now, as a result of the digital revolution, the only way we seem to view and experience imagery and photographs is through a screen. Whether this be as a result of conducting artist research, or simply viewing work on an artists or gallery's website. Our only encounter with the physical photograph is via a physical exhibition. I will therefore use this brief 'Exhibit in the city' to comment on this digitisation of the photographic image.
REFLECTING ON RECENT WORK
In my recent work for the previous unit within ‘Explore and Experiment’, towards the end I began questioning and exploring ideas related to our relationship to the digital image.it stemmed from my own fascination of my own connection to the Instantaneous and immediacy of digital images, particularly stored within my phone. looking into the medium of photography in a significantly broader light, and its position within our ever-changing world. The work (shown below) explored this affiliation and obsession with the digital image, and notion of photography as a means of documentation of the everyday and banal. The final outcome produced for this project consisted of two A2 frames containing my entire digital iCloud storage of images from the past two years, (730 days) I wanted to bring light and attention to this idea that the digital image is becoming or has become less significant. I felt that this project was left unfinished and have therefore continued research and explorations in the realms of this area. Having been briefed on this unit with the overarching theme of 'WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY IS', I felt that I could use this idea as a starting point to produce further work and explorations and see how it goes as my work progresses. Whether I will continue this for this specific project is unknown, but as aforementioned I feel it will act as a strong starting point.
