Takeaways from In Our Own Image By Fred Ritchin
Twenty years ago, before the age of digital cameras, cellphones, and the Internet, FredRitchin outlined the many ways in which the digital age would change society. “In Our Own Image” is the first book to discuss the coming revolution in photography and raise tough questions that are increasingly important today, including whether democracy can survive the easy use of digital means in the media. By the time the second edition was published in 1999, many of Mr. Richin’s predictions had come true. Computer decoration of images has become a staple of media and has greatly diminished photography’s role as a credible witness: Newsday published the first “Future” news photo, which featured two feuding skaters meeting the next day, and put it on its cover. Time magazine darkened and blurred Simpson’s image in order to elevate “a run-of-the-police mug shot to an art level without sacrificing the truth.” Now, Aperture is republishing the groundbreaking text that has been influencing the debate about digital imaging since it was first published. This 20th-anniversary edition features the author’s introduction to the background of the book for contemporary readers.
The ability to capture the reality of photography is very circumscribed and deceptive. In the post-photographic age, photography is easily editable by the advanced computer to satisfy some particular interests of people. Some may need artistry; others may need political profits. Even without any edition, the photograph shows differently by ever-changing light and shade. And in this example, the photographer intentionally The photographer vilified Donald Trump because of his/ her unknowable personal emotions.
The controller of photography has changed from the monopolist of knowledge rights to the monopolist of speech and then to the leader of the family. After 170 years of development, it has become every one of us today. Popularization did not destroy photography but turned photography from an object into a culture and a means of communication. While the meaning of each image diminishes in the sea of images, good or bad, they will never disappear as a collective photograph for as long as we can foresee human history. Trying to define a single moment in this whole process as “real photography” is not practical, and in fact, it is quite possible that the photography we face today is nothing compared to the endless possibilities of the future.
But when we look back,we will find that so many of the pioneers behind closed doors, but are slowly forgotten by history. Refusing to democratize photography and impeding the flow of information is the real attempt to destroy photography. Unfortunately, even though they had the power to invent photography, they failed to figure this out. Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, arrogance is.
I think after the reading, I feel deeper into the meaning of photography, especially in today’s context. Photography is not only changing the way people see the world, it is reshaping our world. Photography is only a “way” and a “means” of artistic language expression. There is no obvious difference in essence between photography and other forms of artistic communication (carriers of one or multiple thoughts, emotions, cultures, commercial forms, etc.). The rapid development of information and technology in today’s society, so that we continue to broaden our horizons, explore those who make us strange, amazing things. In shooting or traveling, we can see the ocean, the earth, the stars, the changing landforms, meet all kinds of people, unknown animals, plants, and everything that makes us interested. With all things in the world, respect the power of nature. Explore, submit to the mysteries of the mind, and record them.