- What does Ritchin mean with the “fluidity of the digital”? Give an example of digital imaging/digital photography that exemplifies this.
According to Ritchin, “the fluidity of the digital” means that digital stuff is easy to change and spread. For instance, since digital images can be easily altered，the myth of photographic veracity was being utilized more frequently by those in power to establish their own versions of themselves and events. Therefore，the authenticity of digital images is replaced by fluidity. Additionally, the digital stuff spreads very fast, reaches a wide audience, and has a big impact.
2. 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).
Compared to other media, photography captures reality to a greater extent. It records images of what is happening right now, therefore it has greater authenticity. It provides much more information than text, and it’s harder to make fake images while the text is easy to spread false news by mistake or on purpose, though nowadays photos are also easier to change. When compared with videos, photography is not that continuous，and not able to catch the whole process. Photography is a digital form about one moment while the video is about a period. It takes time to watch a video but it’s intuitive to see a photo in less than one second. When it comes to books, it’s essential to recognize the type of the book. Some books can capture and record reality while some books are just fictional that have no reference value.
All in all, photographs have a great ability to capture reality, but only if they have not been altered.
That’s all for my brief understanding of the 2 questions related to this book.