Assignment 3: Critical essay

Assignment 3 Critical essay

“Using relevant case studies, discuss whether digital cameras and related technologies for the dissemination of digital imagery have affected our choice of subject matter or how we take photographs.”

Word Count including quotations 3350

Word Count excluding quotations 2569

Has our choice of subject matter or the way in which we take images on digital cameras and mobile smart phones changed compared to analogue photography?   By examining case studies relating to domestic (vernacular) photography in the developed world, I hope to determine whether there has been change in the subjects we photograph or whether we consume snapshots differently in the digital age.

Photographs have long been associated with memory, identity and communication in creating and sharing the experience of looking at photographs. I will explore whether the subjects we photograph and share alter the priorities of memory, identity and communication. Evidence from the advent of smart phones question whether mobile digital images have transformed our online identity either accurately or through fake images.  I will examine the categories of mobile phone images and consider whether our age affects our relationship with digital images. Simon Roberts’s exhibition “Site Sacralization: (Re)framing Switzerland (2017)” captures tourists behaving differently in the digital age when taking photographs. The younger generation were criticized recently by the media for taking and sharing inappropriate selfies at dark tourism sites, so I will reflect on whether this is changing our visual culture.

Vernacular images are a popular subject throughout the history of photography. Risto and Frohlich (2011) suggest the “three values of domestic photography [are] related to memory, identity and communication” based works by Chalfen (1987) and Musello (1989) (Risto and Frohlich, 2011:103). Sontag (1973) and Barthes (1981) believed “photography’s function as a tool for identity formation as a means for communication were duly acknowledged but were always rated as secondary to its prime purpose of memory.” (Van Dijck, 2008) When changing from analogue to digital photography, these categories have remained the same, although it could be argued that with the uptake of online apps for dissemination of images on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook (communication tools) the focus perhaps shifted to prioritize identity and communication rather than memory. Harrison’s ethnographic study (2002) observed that “self-presentation – rather than family re-presentation – is now a major function of photographs.” (Van Dijck, 2008) It appears that in the early noughties, academics realized photography was undergoing a cultural change. Chiano, Chen and Isaacs (2002) and Liechti and Ichiwaka, (2000) noted adults were switching from analogue to digital cameras to record memory and family life whilst young people had access to “camera like tools for conversation and peer group building.” (Van Dijck, 2008)

In the mid-nineties, Slater argued that domestic photography was intertwined with family narratives, identity and leisure time because snapshots captured the family during family holidays and rituals. Digital photography brought a change in “the domestic context in which snapshots exist, a transformation in the domestic economy of images: digital technologies patently involve a major extension in the volume and complexity of flow of public images through domestic time and space.” He prophesized individuals would build their own photographic walls instead of compiling family albums which he saw as “acts of practical communication rather than reflective representation.” (Risto and Frohlich, 2011:104) Schiano et al. (2002) reported teens printed far less photographs than families did, preferring to share their images online. (Risto and Frohlich, 2011: 107) Similar studies suggested the emphasis was shifting towards communication being more important than memory as a value of photography among the younger generation.

By 2002, studies were executed with mobile phone imaging. A study by Radiolinja MMS[1] in Finland with 25 young adult participants using mobile camera phones found they communicated on average with 5 friends. Subject matter varied from humour, staged, manipulated and fake images. Koskinen explains that because people live in surroundings familiar to them, subject matter was described as banal and senders dramatized the images by including the “unusual, funny or shocking.” (Koskinen, 2004) Koskinen concluded that “MMS gives people means to interpret and share their life visually, and elaborate their experiences together” (Koskinen, 2004). This suggests the emphasis is on communication and identity rather than memory, confirming Hammond’s findings. Images of tourist destinations were sent like postcards, with text relevant to the recipient’s interests. Often a collection of images with themes were sent to recipients. Van Dijck (2008) explains that captions enlighten the picture, keeping the recipient in touch with the sender’s life, although argues that the individual value of the picture lessens when a caption is added making it acceptable to discard rather than archive the image. “Photographs gain value as ‘moments,’ while losing value as mementos.” (Van Dijck, 2008)

Okabe and Ito (Japan, 2003) found their participants captured images of work, social events, landscapes and pets, but in addition captured photographs as an aid memoir of something they wished to buy in the future such as a book. UK and USA studies followed, confirming a change in visual culture. These individual studies were fairly small, but when linked together, the authors categorized photographs into themes such as:

“Individual personal reflection: Affective images used for personal reflection or reminiscing. Example: Picture of a gift received.

Individual personal task: Functional images used to support some future task not involving sharing. Example: Picture of a car registration number after an accident.

Social mutual experience: Affective images used to enrich a shared, co present experience. Example: A celebration in a pub.

Social absent friend or family. Affective images used to communicate with absent friends or family. Example: Picture of muddy boots at a festival.

Social mutual task: Functional images shared with people co present in support of a task. Example: Picture of a plumbing problem for diagnosis.

Social remote task: Functional images used to accomplish task by sharing with remote family friends of colleagues. Example: Picture of a goldfish for the recipient to remember to feed.” (Risto and Frohlich 2011: 115)

Van Dijck argues that “personal photography has not changed as a result of digital technologies; the changing function of photography is part of a complex technological, social and cultural transformation.” (Van Dijck, 2008) She believes the camera remains a tool for memory, it is just that images are capable of being shared with an audience through cyberspace rather than families looking at an album.  However, danger lies in possible unauthorized distribution or lack of control of images once shared. Images may be reframed or taken out of context and move between public and personal frameworks, because “images are used as commodities that circulate through posting, tagging, sharing and viewing practices on SNS’s[2].” (Lyons et al 2016: 2)

Sharing visual stories enables self-expression and provides an opportunity for online dialogue with absent peers. (Lobinger, 2016, Mendelsen and Papacharissi, 2011 as cited by Lyons et al, 2016:2) Lyons et al, (2016) suggest that as digital devices change, different practices on social media emerge around social networking and social practices. “Identities are deliberately produced through specific stories one tells about oneself.” (MacGregor Wise and Koskela, 2013:31) Photographs of family and friends remind us of what the past looked like and how we should recall our younger self. Self-image is remodelled on previous photographs that have been taken. (Van Dijck, 2008)

In 2017, Snapchat’s daily user figures are 158million. 2.8billion images are uploaded daily and 60% of users chat with friends across the platform. Teenagers moved to Snapchat as a platform for sharing images of their daily life because their parents and older generations are using Facebook. Snapchat’s images can be set to “disappear” after so many seconds, although stored on the system and friends can screenshot images of which the originator has no control over their destination. The ephemeral nature, lack of requirement for perfection and lack of conversation thread appeals to teenagers.  A study by Oliver and Pielot (2014) suggested that in 2013, more images were shared this way than through Facebook or Instagram.

Figure 1 Roker Beach (2017)

SNS users photograph events on their phones in real time and send to recipients via Snapchat. This image of Roker Beach, Sunderland momentarily appeared on Snapchat as the sender explored the area. Excitement prompted the sender to record the image on Snapchat and add a caption so that the recipients gained an insight into the sender’s day and location. This fleeting image disappeared moments after being seen.

Mitra (2013) identifies these images as visual narbs (pieces of narrative). Whereas teenagers may post images showing where they are with a caption underneath or across it, over time, younger generations will change the type of images they post leading to discussion on where the real is. Images posted onto a digital platform can manipulate identity by controlling specific components. Baudrillard describes online identity as hyper-real, where: “the very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyper real” (Baudrillard 1981 as cited by Mitra, edited by Macgregor Wise and Koskela, 2013:35)

Figure 2 Zilla Van Den Borg (2014)

Zilla van den Born (Dutch graphic design student) holidayed in South East Asia, or so she led her family to believe. They dropped her off at the airport and thought she was about to travel. However, at home she photoshopped herself into photographs of holiday destinations in South East Asia to deceive her family and disguised herself when leaving the house to avoid recognition. By contacting the family via Skype and posting images on social media in real time, the deception was believable.

In Simon Roberts’ current exhibition Sight Sacralization: (Re)Framing Switzerland (2017) for Unfamiliar Familiarities, Outside Views on Switzerland (part of a collection of work to mark 100 years of Swiss Tourism) the exhibition blurb explains that:

“the Swiss landscape often resembles a theater set, where tourists are transported to officially designated areas of natural beauty to gaze upon epic views from the safety of stage-managed viewpoints a process referred to as “sight sacralization” [McCannell] A place is named, then framed and elevated, before being enshrined, mechanically reproduced and finally socially reproduced across a variety of media.” (Roberts, 2017)

At the beginning of Swiss tourism, photographs such the panoramic landscape, pastoral life and national portraits built up a stereotypical romantic view of Switzerland, shaping its national identity and cultural reputation. Five non-Swiss photographers were commissioned to reframe Switzerland in 2017.  Robert’s interpretation experiences the most popular tourist hotspots located using the online app “Sightsmap” which occur when people geo-tag images of the place they visit. Large tableaux photographs and two audio visual presentations explore tourists’ observation of the landscape through their selfies and snapshots, creation of memories and remembrance of tourist sites in Switzerland. Roberts eludes to the idea of a “culture of instantaneity” meaning “the expectation of rapid, ubiquitous availability and the instance gratification of desires. Additionally […] related to a “sense of directness, of cultural proximity” (ibid)” (Hepp, 2009:148)

Figure 3 Schilthorn, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland (2017)

Through individual and collective identity, tourists create and interpret their own images which is captured by Roberts on film. The tourists go to great lengths in the short space of time they visit the site to produce a memento for themselves and send to families, such as men taking their tops off to appear macho in the mountain ranges, a group sharing the same homemade placard amongst themselves and individual and family group photographs were taken using selfie sticks.

“Memories are made as much as they are recalled from photographs; our recollections never remain the same, even if the photograph appears to represent a fixed image of the past. And yet, we use these pictures not to ‘fix’ memory, but to constantly reassess our past lives and reflect on what has been as well as what is and what will be. Recollecting is not simply a revisionist project; anticipations of future selves inform retrograde projections, and these mental image maps, in turn, feed a desire to impact ‘external’ (camera) visions of our selves” (Rose, 1992 as cited by Van Dijk (2008)

Users of digital cameras review the image on screen, imagine the printed result and choose to store or delete the image. If they reshoot, they might negotiate with the subject whose self-evaluation may result in a different pose. The photographer can repeat the process, including manipulating (e.g. cropping or cloning, altering the colours). However, this form of manipulation has always taken place, from a sitter in a portrait parlour expressing their preferred pose for a photographer developing the image, to painted self-portraits of historical figures. Digital photography offers more opportunity for the photographer to manipulate the image, either in camera or on a computer with editing software. ‘The shift to the digital has shown that photographs are simply raw material for an endless series of digressions. … As images, photographs encourage viewers to move beyond the physical world even as they assert the value of memory, place, and original moments.’ (Ron Burnett 2004 as cited by Van Dijck, 2008)

With access to 24/7 news channels showing journalists and news reporters presenting war zones and natural disasters, observers become spectators of tragedy through a voyeuristic gaze.  Some tourists visit these sites to take their own photographs after the event to say they were there. Rowe suggest tourists visit places such as Rwanda and Afghanistan (Sharpley and Stone, 2009:6) more for promoting their own story as opposed to journalism.

Thomas Dworzak (2016) photographed young tourists playing the online augmented reality game Pokémon Go! in Paris showing people walking slowly and stopping periodically to capture Pokémon. Through documentary photography he studied how the players changed their relationship with their surroundings. The game inventors used dark tourism sites for PokéStops and PokéGyms.  “Dark tourism”, defined by Stone (2006) includes sites of disasters, grief, graves, holocaust, genocide, persecution, communism etc.  Dark tourism is not a new phenomenon; for centuries tourists have visited Roman gladiator games, public executions and Pompeii. Today, tourists visit Ground Zero, concentration camps and disaster sites with digital cameras in search of excitement, digital souvenirs, developing their identity, building memories and communicating with others. To qualify as a dark tourism site, there must be some commodification of the area which could include a guidebook or postcard stand. The iPhone version of Pokémon Go! involved taking photos with the in-app camera, although Dworzak noted that a concentration camp asked tourists not to play the game whilst visiting.  Stone’s website (2017) clearly states that respectful behaviour must be displayed at dark tourism sites which excludes taking selfies.

Sontag commented that “most tourists feel compelled to put the camera between themselves and whatever is remarkable that they encounter.” (Sontag, 1977:10) Writing in the pre-digital age, she expands on the immortality and importance of the image.  Whilst this was probably correct at the time of writing, it seems that in the digital age the importance is the experience of being at the site, making memories and communicating photographs, although it seems that by photographing these places, spectators are still looking for emotional detachment by placing the camera between themselves and the objects.

Lee Miller’s online archives contain powerful monochrome images of concentration camps which were displayed in print at Lakeside Gallery, Nottingham (2014). Miller’s images are perhaps more horrific when viewed in print than images than visitor information might contain, because audiences assume these are real images taken at the time of her visit. The viewers are told for example that liberated prisoners are observing the remains of the dead or that the person being dragged in the bunk room is a dead prisoner. Most guidebook images are taken after the commodification of the tourist site and although act as reminders of the past, are not a spectacle. Nonetheless both types of images provide opportunity for dialogue about death in an increasingly secular society. “The photograph links us both with the dead and our own death.” (Beloff (2007) as cited by Sharpley and Stone, 2009:42) Through taking images at dark tourism sites, people become spectators of death and death is reconceptualised as memory, entertainment or education.

A search for concentration camps on Flickr showed many photographs of objects belonging to the deceased as well as images of the buildings. These, although similar, were tasteful. Google search reveals selfies are taken at dark tourism sites. These may have been taken on a modern compact digital camera with a flip screen, allowing the user to see themselves as if they were taking a selfie. The lens is no longer between themselves and the scene for security as Sontag suggests. Controversy over inappropriate selfies taken at the holocaust sites appeared in the news in 2017. In response, artist Shahak Shapira (2017) combined selfies taken at concentration camps with photographs of the dead.

Figure 4 Another of Mr. Shapira’s composites alongside the original (2017)

This prompted discussion concerning the ethics of inappropriate selfies and Shapira’s images in a world where millennials (the selfie generation) have not experienced the trauma of holocaust. In all, 12 selfies were manipulated, and most posters apologized and removed their image from social media accounts. However, it encouraged dialogue on the future of tourism at holocaust sites and how to maintain and promote visitors in the 21st century.

In “Camera Lucida”, Barthes refers to a photograph of a man about to be hanged for crime, explaining the image captures its punctum containing a catastrophe of death. (Barthes, 2007: 96). He justifies that “an image always contains this imperious sign of my future death […] each one, however attached it seems to be to the excited world of the living, challenges each of us, one by one, outside of any generality (but not outside of any transcendence)” (Barthes, 2000:97) The number of people or their companions who die whilst taking a selfie is increasing. One reason for taking death selfies is that the number of likes for an image is social currency. To increase the user’s chances of more likes, some choose to take adventurous selfies in dangerous places.  Research into selfie deaths show that men are more likely to die than women and it seems to affect 14-32-year-olds. Most deaths are caused falling from heights, being hit by a train or in water related activities. As a response to the numbers, Russian authorities developed a safe selfie campaign to reduce the number of selfie deaths. Death selfies are uploaded to social media to encourage people to discuss death in a secular society. Images of death and near death have always been present although increasingly shared through physical images at the place of death e.g. roadside memorials and virtually through SNS.

During the last 15 or so years, evidence has shown that the internet has become a commodity which changed the way people take, share and store images. Behaviour has changed as photographs have become more disposable. The advent of augmented reality games such as Pokémon Go! has changed the way players interact with and use their surroundings to promote identity as opposed to memory.  Selfies have become a dual commodity as they promote the individuals’ identity and act as a memory of time and place.

The values of photography for communication, memory and identity are still important. Several apps have been developed for sharing images online with different properties for users to choose between. On one hand the younger generation tend to favour Snapchat with its ephemeral images, whilst older users favour Facebook or Flickr with images built up as photo albums or walls. Only chosen images are printed by the user. Most apps are free, including photo manipulation software and can be operated by anyone. Subject matter includes anything and everything because mobile phone cameras are convenient to carry, negating the need for an additional digital camera. Phones are used for a wide range of subjects, including personal support when involved in an accident, sharing information with experts in search of answers, personal reminders such as shopping lists and “wish you were here” holiday images besides capturing and sharing everyday life. 

The idea of taking digital images for sharing identity worldwide is valid and although memory seems equally important, the number of users on Snapchat suggests otherwise. The visual culture of photography is changing, and images show millennials displaying their normal behaviour when visiting tourist sites rather than a modified behaviour which perhaps the older generations exhibit. However, the downside to all this freedom is the lack of control over images once posted online.

List of Illustrations

Cover illustration: Hampshire, A. (2017) Sunderland Winter Gardens [photograph] In possession of: Hampshire, N. Nottingham.

Figure 1. Hampshire, A. (2017) Roker Beach [photograph] In possession of: Hampshire, N. Nottingham.

Figure 2. Van den Borg, Z.  (2014)  [article] Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/21752/1/want-an-amazing-holiday-just-photoshop-it last accessed 15/10/17

Figure 3. Roberts, Simon. (2016) Schilthorn, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. [photograph]. Available at:

https://www.simoncroberts.com/work/sight-sacralization/ last accessed 31/10/17

Figure 4. Another of Mr. Shapira’s composites alongside the original (2017) [newspaper article online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38675835 last accessed 31/10/17

References

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[1] Multimedia Messaging Service

[2] Social Networking Service

Tutor feedback Assignment 3

Overall Comments

 You have produced a very well-researched essay looking at ‘whether the subjects we photograph and share alter the priorities of memory, identity and communication…examining the categories of mobile phone images and consider whether our age affects our relationship with digital images’.  No corrections advised.

Feedback on assignment

 Since no changes were recommended to assignment 3, we spent our 30 minute Skype session discussing the best way forward in terms of studio work for Nicola’s next submission for DiC (assignment 4). Below is a summary from Nicola of that session.

 Coursework

See main body of the text

Research

See main body of the text

Learning Log

See main body of the text

Suggested reading/viewing

Susan Bright – Auto Focus

Thomas Ruff – Photographs 1979-2017 Whitechapel Gallery

Student feedback (Notes on planning for assignment 4)

Plan for Assignment 4: Digital Identities

Develop a project around identity within the current digital climate. Could be autobiographical or could be a critical examination of part of digital culture.

Probably going to go down the autobiographical route. Interested in masks and hats which I have to wear at work and how you can hide behind it / change identity slightly when hat colour changes (job as a theatre nurse is hierarchical). Effect of wearing masks and using body language to communicate. Assume different roles in life. Interested in use of mirrors – when you look in a mirror, who is being reflected back at the viewer? Aging.

My amended plan following our conversation: 

Look at John Stezaker’s portrait work. Wendy’s advice is keep it simple! Move facial structures around, collage. Wendy also suggested looking at Hans Eijkelboom, Richard Price’s nurses and Anne Collier for representation of femininity. Could follow Cindy Sherman on Instagram – aging body.

Thomas Ruff’s exhibition in Whitehall Gallery looks really interesting. I was famililar with his portrait work but not his digital image work. It would be thought-provoking to see this and experiment using some of his ideas. I had thought that one way of displaying this would be a typology. Date organized for visit to Gallery.

Other ideas discussed were Susan Bright’s book – Auto Focus which I have found in a local library to read as preparation work. Coloured gels may add interest? Not considered this route so will need to investigate. Could explore archived nursing photos or look at nurses have been represented through the ages – gaze. E.g Benny Hill type representation, postcards, modern nurse.

I am feeling confident about this now I have discussed it. There could be a lot of work although I think it will be fascinating to explore and experiment. Wendy suggested that it may be something to revisit in the future, e.g level 3 which is not something that I had considered.