Inceptive Notions

© Susan Meiselas

This past Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of hearing Susan Meiselas speak about her work and present an excerpt from the film Pictures of a Revolution. She currently has a show up at ICP entitled Susan Meiselas: In History which I haven’t had the opportunity to go see but plan to sometime this week. Last year, in one of my introductory courses we read a piece from Harper’s Magazine entitled On the Rights of Molotov Man (which I encourage everyone to read, especially if you’re interested in the question of appropriation in the digital age). Hearing her fervently answer questions regarding the scuffle and reemphasize her view on the importance of contextualization of an image reminded me of the importance of such a discussion. Photographs are images and they, at least literally, say nothing. The fact that they can be interpreted in so many different ways is part of the magic. However, in certain situations taking them out of context is seen, at least to Meiselas, as a disservice to the people. The article cited above references a photograph of a man during the Nicaraguan insurrection of 1978-79. For an adequate breakdown of Meiselas’ position see Photographylot.

© Susan Meiselas

My reason for this post is not necessarily to discuss  Meiselas’ position and whether or not she is correct, but rather to discuss the ways Meiselas’ dreams of consistent context might come true.

Digital photography leaves no negative. Images are easily appropriated and the industry is in a search to, at the very least, implement a way to track an image back to the original author. The first solution seen to this problem was MetaData. MetaData allows a photographer to encrypt his signature and any other copyright information into the data of the image. It also stores other information about the image such as the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, etc. For anyone looking to encrypt all their photos with MetaData, you can do so using Adobe Lightroom or most other organizational programs.

© Susan Meiselas

Now, if Meiselas wishes the story, identity, time, and place to stick with the image. Would it be right to find a way to incorporate all of this into an image’s MetaData? Or does this, somehow, ruin the merits of a photograph? The idea of viewer’s knowing that beyond the flattened facade there’s a wealth of information to discover about the image… I suppose if it’s the photographer’s intent then there’s no harm. I would say, however, that it should remain the viewer’s choice to divulge said information and I especially think such context is only necessary in certain circumstances. I’ll admit I do not know all of the logistics of MetaData but I suppose as technology progresses the information will be more easily accessable and harder to dispell from the image. Until then we just have to accept the fact someone viewing an image of a Nicaraguan may not have the slightest inkling as to who it is or whence it came. All of this reminds me of a scene from the beginning of the movie Along Came a Spider. Two children are in a computer class coding messages in photographs and sending them to one another over instant message. Maybe I should find out what (fictitious?) technology they were using.

Michael George :: Sep.29.2008 :: Photographers, The Industry :: No Comments »

Nikon D90, © Chase Jarvis

In the past six years the world of photography has made tremendous leaps with its various forms of digital cameras. In the future, I imagine, we will look back on today as a milestone. Nikon has announced the release of the D90. All basic specifications aside, the most important aspect of this new camera is its ability to capture high-definition 720p video. Lately, from what I have gathered, everyone from photo editors to journalists and fine art to commercial photographers are wondering what direction photography and the media are heading. We’re facing an era where print media is slowly becoming obsolete as the Internet opens new doors, and professional photographers are looking on in uncertainty as the average consumer becomes the owner of a semi-professional digital SLR. There is a lot of speculation on the subject, and seemingly very few answers to the larger questions. This can be attributed to the fact that many companies are developing software that has untapped potential and there’s no telling what the general populace will do with it once it is at their fingertips. Microsoft is making leaps and bounds to take all of the millions of photographs uploaded to the Internet and amass them into a single place where the photographs become less of a flat image and more of a window into the landscape in which they were taken. The software, known as Photosynth, can be seen in a demo video here.

Gigapan

In a similar direction, I had the pleasure of watching Illah Nourbakhsh, a professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, demonstrate one of their machines known as the Gigapan. This little device takes an everyday digital camera and maxes out the zoom as it pans around the room and then couples with software that stitches all of these photographs together, creating an enormous panorama (a gigapixel image). You can explore these gigapixel images here. These new twists on what used to be a straightforward practice have people asking, Is Photography Dead? In the article Plagens states, “The next great photographers—if there are to be any—will have to find a way to reclaim photography’s special link to reality. And they’ll have to do it in a brand-new way.” This brand-new way will undoubtedly spring up from the myriad of new processes brought about by all of this evolutionary technology.

Iraq Kurdistan, Mediastorm, © Ed Kashi

One of the most poignant for me in recent memory is the way the people working with MediaStorm have managed to combine stop-motion animation with stills, video, and audio, to create extremely compelling narratives. Since this discovery I’ve found myself more interested in the potential for the combination of video and still photography and, at long last, Nikon has made the combination a comprehensible possibility. The camera, for one, is inexpensive ($999). But most importantly, the photographer will not feel out of their element while experimenting with video. All the tools needed are now housed in a single place. Although, from watching the videos, the camera is not foolproof. There is no autofocus and I would imagine the audiopickup is less than spectacular. Nonetheless, for those looking to experiment (i.e. me) this is a hint at what is to come and provides an easy outlet for testing the waters of the cinematic practice. Now, if only Canon would hop on the bandwagon.

P.S. Here is a video of Chase Jarvis testing out the camera:

Michael George :: Aug.27.2008 :: Blogs, News, The Industry :: No Comments »