Digital capture technologies and applications

Photography

"Photographs are perceived to represent reality in their reference to a subject in time," ("Analog to Digital"). Yet "digital photography challenges the historical belief that photography is representative of reality," ("Analog to Digital," p. 21). A whole new art form has been created, due to changes in the medium itself. Just as other visual arts, and also music, have changed in response to advancements in media, the meaning, form, function, and perception photography has also changed.

The photographer is more of an artist who can capture subjective experience than in the days of analog image capture. Creativity unleashed, the photographer can "edit and create images of objects that never existed in reality," ("Analog to Digital," p. 21). The manipulation of reality using digital tools is not limited to the outlandish or hyperbolic. Photographers can maximize the potential of their basic tools, representing reality in ways that are easier, more straightforward, and often more visually appealing than without digital tools. For example, rendering images in low light settings is relatively easy using even the most primitive digital camera. Analog cameras offered few options for manipulating light and color.

As the author of "Analog to Digital" points out, the fact that the medium has changed does not negate its value. "Just because a photograph is created or distributed with digital technology does not negate its indexical function," (p. 21). Digital photography can still capture objective reality as well as analog photography; and digital photography can also impart a sense of wonder, awe, and respect for the physical world. Photography has been and always will be an art form, made better with improvements to the media. Few would argue that the electric guitar diminished the talent of musicians or the quality of the musical product.

In "How to Do Things with Pictures," the author uses ironically cryptic language to describe what is essentially a practical and pragmatic art form: photography. Also referring, however, to the way photography can either reflect reality or create illusion, the author does understand the importance of the evolution of digital media. "Straightforward photographs can be used legitimately and effectively to show that things exist. But mislabeled or manipulated photographs can be used to create illusions of existence," ("How to Do Things with Pictures," p. 195). There is also a middle ground between these two extremes. A good photographer with deep familiarity and confidence in using multiple types of photographic equipment can represent reality while also transcending the problems that besiege the amateur. Any student of photography understands the frustration of not being able to capture an image that a more skilled artist can, due to the most basic elements of the science such as exposure, aperture, and shutter speed. Digital photography covers up for ignorance in many ways, allowing the crudest photographer to take what would have been considered a remarkable image in the days of pure analog. A digital camera armed with post-production tools does not have to be fancy to render reality well.