![]() Sontag also argues that through repeatedly capturing and viewing reality through photographs, their subjects can become less real. Institutions of control, such as the police, are able to survey and control "increasingly mobile populations" through photographic documents, such as passports or identity cards. She claims that photography's perceived ability to give information results in the bureaucratic organization of modern states. In Sontag's view, a consequence of photography becoming a primary means for understanding reality is the emergence of " bureaucratic cataloguing". Sontag shares this view, suggesting that "the 'realistic' view of the world compatible with bureaucracy redefines knowledge as techniques of information. įurther, Neil Postman argues that the photograph has redefined society's understanding of information and truth: "Truth is in the seeing, not in the thinking." Postman suggests that the proliferation of photography led to the replacement of language with images as "our dominant means for constructing, understanding, and testing reality". The possibility of 'true' photographs leads to a compulsion to " experience into an image" to "make real what one is experiencing." For society Understanding of reality ĭavid Croteau and William Hoynes suggest that the prevalence of photographic images has blurred the distinction between image and reality, referring to pseudo-events, in Daniel Boorstin's words – such as press conferences, televised political debates, or 'photo opportunities' - that exist only to create images. Since a picture confers on events "a kind of immortality (and importance) it would never otherwise have enjoyed," she explains, the act of taking photographs has become essential to the experience of world travel. He cites Bazin's idea that photography has an "irrational power to bear away our faith." įurther, Susan Sontag relates the belief in a photograph's ability to capture 'reality' to the development of certain human practices. Gunning attributes the human fascination with photographs with a sense of the relationship between photography and reality, though he claims that the "perceptual richness and nearly infinite detail" of the image itself is more significant than a knowledge of its indexicality. Levinson suggests that icons have a powerful effect on individuals, particularly the "direct image" due to the "sheer ease and sensual satisfaction" of viewing it. Consequences of the "truth claim" For individuals To represent "truth" it must resemble the object it represents, which is not an inevitable characteristic of an index. Gunning states that a photograph must also have "iconicity". Denis McQuail likewise argues that film is capable of manipulating the ".seeming reality of the photographic message without loss of credibility." Visual accuracy Lev Manovich labels cinema the art of the index, its traditional identity lying in its ability to capture reality. Ī similar argument has been made for motion pictures by Stephen Maguire. ![]() Levinson relates this characteristic of the photograph to its objectivity and reliability, echoing Andre Bazin's belief that photography is free from the "sin" of subjectivity. ![]() Light sensitive emulsion on the photographic negative is transformed by light passing through the lens and diaphragm of a camera. ![]() Paul Levinson emphasises the ability of photography to capture or reflect "a literal energy configuration from the real world" through a chemical process. Indexicality Ĭharles Peirce's term 'indexicality' refers to the physical relationship between the object photographed and the resulting image. He states that the truth claim relies on both the indexicality and visual accuracy of photographs. Truth claim, in photography, is a term Tom Gunning uses to describe the prevalent belief that traditional photographs accurately depict reality. ( October 2008) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic.
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