Chapter 9

Of Synthetics and Cyborgs really delved into the span of possibilities that could emerge in the future with digital photography. In the beginning of the chapter, Ritchin makes a comment about how someday we may all walk around with a walnut sized lump in our foreheads that would have the potential to record our entire lives. Scary is my immediate reaction to that while others seem to grab at the opportunity to explore deeper into the digital world. This ability relies way to much on technology and takes us farther away from our grounded reality. Maybe movies and video games have put too many ideas in peoples heads because after this chapter I felt like in a few years I would be living in the Matrix. Taking pictures used to be special because it was a highly selective and thought out process. Only things that truly made an impact on the photographer would be given the chance to be captured and later made into a sole representation of that time or event. With the huge technological leaps that have been made in photography, that thought process has been pushed aside. If humans got to the point where everything throughout their daily lives was being documented that would only encourage less observance for it would all be stored away if ever needed. I hope it doesn't reach this point, especially during my lifetime because I think it would be horribly sad.

Chapter 8

Throughout this book we have looked at the ways in which digital photography differs from analog. The main point of course, is that digital images can take the viewer deeper in the image, to seek for more information and gain a better understanding of the story. Photographs can be, “linked, transmitted, recontextualized, and fabricated”. We have looked at various ways in which this can result in both positive and negative, like the many examples of government misuse of images. With this in mind, I thought it was quite interesting to read the section that discussed creating synthesized images that would give us a look into the future. This could help to avoid future issues instead of waiting until they happen to deal with them such as the shrinking glaciers at Glacier National Park. I feel like this is an extremely positive thing that photography is able to contribute to the improvement of our lives. People are more apt to change if they can see with their own eyes the actual repercussions of their actions…Chris Jordan anyone?? If only some of the energy that is spent altering, planning, and reshooting images would be put towards more productive avenues I think we’d all be better off.

Moroccooo

Warmness

Scanographs

Chapter 7

Ritchin talks about how Polaroid cameras were given to young people to explore their surroundings and how such a simply act hit so many aspects that are completely skipped over but provide such amazing insight into a culture. The Photographs be Iraqi Civilians, "was featured for its intimate and ordinary perspectives showing how a marginal project can fill a void that mainstream media may overlook". I suppose the media is trying to portray only tragedy in hopes to more deeply affect the viewers, but there is so much more behind these situations that it seems incomplete without them. Like your watching a movie but instead of fluctuating between the inventible ups and downs, it just continues to be a path of sadness and despair. Who wants to watch that?

I am surprised that I have never heard of the "Nuclear Nightmare" series. After looking through the images and reading the captions I am mortified. They are horrible and seem so distant from reality, its hard to comprehend that events like this actually occur and people are still feeling the repercussions today. Ritchin discusses how many tragic documentary images are overlooked because they are to depressing, but it is completely necessary to show the world such strong and meaningful shots. Without the photographic evidence the majority of people would go on living their lives never knowing that such events were even going on. Now, I as I'm sure most do after seeing these images, will pass them on to people I know and the effect with continue, creating awareness around the world.

Fluid Negative Scan