In Our Own Image, Fred Rithchin

This reading is talking about photography.  Not just any type of photography but digital photography. In the reading it describes digital photography not as another genre like marine photography, portrait photography or journalistic photography. rather it  is a completely different medium. This is because it is not like photography back in the day whereby an actual picture was taken and printed; but it is a move from paper to pixels. The very image itself is now captured inside of a device as a bunch of electronical signals  . This raises the question; since photography is now digital ,what is its use to us as human beings. The reading questions the integrity of the of digital photography because it can be easily manipulated. Nowadays there are software’s and technologies that can completely change the appearance of the image without even noticing. The viewer could easily be fooled just by anyone else and they would never know that it was altered. The reading goes further to ask, are we now living in a world where agenda is pushed through digital photography? This all seems negative but at the end of the day digital photography could be used to share information and communicate effectively especially in a world that is advancing at speed. For example it stated that in photo- journalism is now able to tell stories in depth and share this to the rest of the world. The purpose of this reading was not to get answers but to ask questions about how we as humans can define the purpose of digital photography especially with all the advancements that allow it to be manipulated, but also allows the photography and cameras to be mainstreamed globally. Is it it a positive or a negative thing or is it something that we will even need to rely on in the future.