- What does Ritchin mean with the “fluidity of the digital”? Give an example of digital imaging/digital photography that exemplifies this.
According to “In Our Own Image”, “fluidity of the digital” refers to changes in photography and editing technology with the development of digital technology. When the camera was first invented, it was always inevitable to use a heavy and huge camera, and of course, it was impossible to upload photos online. Even before 2010, we took photos using digital cameras separately from mobile phones and had to go through a complicated process to upload them on the internet. However, through the process of technology development and the widespread of smartphones, revolutionary changes have occurred in photographing and editing. An era has begun in which cameras are built into our phones and photos can be stored in phones rather than memory chips. So, software developers created various social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter by utilizing those advantages of smartphones. People can easily and conveniently upload photos using social media to communicate and record their good memories. However, unlike the intention of software developers and social media users, photos on SNS are sometimes used with impure intentions. Some users steal others’ photos and use them for illegal activities, and infringe on healthy SNS cultures.
- Reflect on the extent to which photography is capable of capturing reality; and compare it to other media (technology) (e.g. text, video, virtual reality, books).
The extent to which photography in capturing reality is not as great compared to text, video, virtual reality, books. The reason why I think this is because the picture shows only one specific scene. Text, video, and books have a beginning and end so that audiences can understand the situation before and after. However, due to the characteristic of the picture, the person cannot speak or move in the scene, so the audience has no choice but to believe it by looking at the specific scene and behavior shown in the picture.