- What does Ritchin mean with the “fluidity of the digital”? Give an example of digital imaging/digital photography that exemplifies this.
In the text, the author was mentioning how with the development of technologies, and the digitalization of photography to be more specific, it entered into its “the post-photographic age”. The age of accessible and no-censorship photography, when it was more about the conversation between the author and viewer and losing its objectivity. The author mentioned The 1990 Persian Gulf War as a great example of media manipulation. Alongside pictures of independent photographers, official news broadcasts were using simulation of battles. The U.S. Government tried to minimize the media that they did not want the audience to see by banning them, but since people were having the access to all of the media sources, it reframed the reality. The same agenda can be seen in the war conflict between Russia and Ukraine, where Ukrainian people are sharing their stories through cell phones, while Russia bans all of the open social media platforms.
- 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).
It captures the reality for certain audiences. Even if pictures are not about objectivity, pictures suggest a specific idea through the prism of the author. We are in an interesting era when it is possible to manipulate us with different types of media. Radio broadcasting in contrast to photography in terms of delivering truthful information includes aspects like graphs that make us believe and allow us to visualize the ideas. Consequently, to experience our own reality with the imagination. Even if pictures are not about objectivity, pictures suggest a specific idea through the prism of the author.