Garry Winogrand was one of the last masters of so called modern photography. A photojournalist and art photographer, using a Leica reflex camera loaded with a 28mm lens and a TriX 400 iso film, he rose to fame for his street pictures taken extensively across the United States, and across several foreign countries. Winogrand began his entanglement with photography in the 1950s. He created numerous images and produced five published monographs before his death in 1984. One of his famous quotes summarizes his perceptions about photography, as follows:
“A work of art is that thing whose form and content are organic to the tools and materials that made it. Still photography is a chemical, mechanical process. Literal description or the illusion of literal description is what the tools and materials of still photography do better than any other graphic medium. A still photograph is the illusion of a literal description of how a camera saw a piece of time and space. Understanding this, one can postulate the following theorem: Anything and all things are photographable. A photograph can only look like how the camera saw what was photographed. Or, how the camera saw the piece of time and space is responsible for how the photograph looks. ….I like to think of photographing as a two-way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing as it is. A photograph must be responsible to both.” (Garry Winogrand, Austin Texas, 1974, photograpy quotes.com, 2011)
Since then, a lot has changed. We are experiencing a shift in traditional ways of displaying and producing photographs. On the one hand, photographs are now displayed via projectors, digital frames, digital family albums, blogs, and massively on web sites. On the other hand, photographs are now produced with digital cameras, or are generated-through-software without the use of a camera (GSPs; Computer generated images and composites; digitally manipulated images). Winogrand’s condensed statement concerns the function and the value of photography as a medium and as a process; the relationship between the photographer and his medium; and the photographic image as a product of representation. In other words, it concerns the relationship between artistic expression and image interpretation. [...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Functions, values, meanings, and messages in the age of mechanical reproduction
3. Functions, and Values of the “generated-through- software photograph” (GSP)
4. The meaning/message of the GSP
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives & Key Themes
This paper examines how generated-through-software photographs (GSPs) have fundamentally shifted the functions, values, and messages previously assigned to analog photography, challenging traditional concepts of artistic expression and image interpretation in the digital age.
- The transition from mechanical/chemical processes to digital/software-based image creation.
- The renegotiation of authorship, originality, and the concept of the "aura" in digital objects.
- The shift from indexicality to iconicity and its impact on the relationship between reality, representation, and truth.
- The use of semiotics to analyze how software-generated images create new, often pluralistic, interpretations.
- The discursive tension between nostalgic reality and fictional representation in a digital context.
Excerpt from the Book
Functions, and Values of the “generated-through- software photograph” (GSP)
Photography has changed. Since new tools and materials are now organic to the making of a photographic work of art, it can no longer be a literal depiction of what a camera saw at a particular point in time and space. The GSP is a photograph “without space and time”. In this section, I present its functions and its values.
With regards to vision/perspectives, GSPs follow the look of video games: “Isometric axonometric instead of linear” (Sturken Cartwright 2009). Isometric perspective means equal in measure, and is a point of view that visually represents three-dimensional objects in two dimensions. The space is flattened within the frame without creating a sense of depth, thus there is a complete rejection of Renaissance space that has now been surpassed through conventions of virtuality.
Isometric, axonometric instead of linear perspective fosters a pseudo three-dimensional space and revolutionizes the making of worldviews. An example of that is Google Maps. As soon as one hits an internet search engine, a remote satellite digital image of the earth (satellite view through Google maps) appears with just a double click of the index finger. Almost ironically, the index finger (or indexicality as mentioned) used to point or even to state position of one standing still, is now used to gain access and touring over simulated landscapes. Just a double click opens a window to a global point of view, a “supreme view,” a simulated, isometric, axonometric “eye of God”, perspective. This function inevitably creates the following discursive tension in society. On the one hand, a global digital image is, in terms of utility, the ultimate example of technological and scientific human competence in the fields of information, communications and global relations.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter contextualizes the shift from modern, analog photography to computer-generated imagery, establishing the core theoretical framework and research questions.
2. Functions, values, meanings, and messages in the age of mechanical reproduction: This section reviews historical theories by Benjamin, Barthes, and others to define the nature of the photographic medium during the era of mechanical reproduction.
3. Functions, and Values of the “generated-through- software photograph” (GSP): This chapter analyzes the unique characteristics of software-generated images, focusing on their lack of indexicality and the shift toward simulated, non-auratic realities.
4. The meaning/message of the GSP: This part employs semiotic analysis to show how GSPs construct new, polysemic meanings that break the traditional relationship between signifier and signified.
5. Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes the findings, asserting that photography has entered a new phase of "Pixelotype" and that its definition must be renegotiated in light of technological evolution.
Keywords
GSP, Generated-through-software photograph, Digital imaging, Indexicality, Iconicity, Mechanical reproduction, Simulation, Semiotics, Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes, Pastiche, Virtual reality, Representation, Authenticity, Pixelotype
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The research explores how software-generated photographs change the fundamental functions, values, and meanings traditionally attributed to photography as a medium and process.
What are the central thematic areas?
The paper covers the evolution of photography, the shifting relationship between the creator and the apparatus, the value of reproducibility, and the impact of digital simulation on representation and truth.
What is the main research question?
The core question is how GSPs redefine the relationship between artistic expression and image interpretation, specifically addressing the loss of "space and time" in digital imagery.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The author primarily utilizes semiotic analysis—specifically leveraging frameworks by Roland Barthes and Walter Benjamin—to interpret the structure of digital images and uncover their rhetorical layers.
What does the main body of the text cover?
It provides a comparative analysis between the analog age of mechanical reproduction and the contemporary digital age, highlighting technical and conceptual shifts in image production.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
The study is defined by terms such as GSP (Generated-through-software photograph), Indexicality, Simulation, Aura, Semiotics, and Pixelotype.
How does the GSP differ from a traditional photograph regarding space and time?
Unlike traditional photos that capture a specific moment and physical location (indexicality), GSPs are generated through software, detached from specific spatio-temporal coordinates, and exist in a "continuous present."
Why does the author argue that "respect for the medium" no longer applies?
Since the camera is no longer a prerequisite for the image, the traditional notion of letting the medium simply "describe" reality is obsolete, as GSPs are constructed simulations rather than objective captures.
What is the role of nostalgia in interpreting GSPs?
The author posits that because GSPs lack lived experience or a clear historical referent, viewers often interpret them through the lens of nostalgia—an analogy between fantasy and fiction—which creates new discursive tensions.
- Quote paper
- Yiannis Galanopoulos (Author), 2011, “A photograph without space and time”. Functions, Values and Messages of the “generated-through software photograph” (GSP), Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/180321
