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Starred Review. Ritchen (In Our Own Image) offers a supple, politically astute and fascinating account of the dizzying impact of the digital revolution on the trajectory of the photographic image that, like all new media, changes the world in the very act of observing it....
Product Description
"After Photography" examines the myriad ways in which the digital revolution has fundamentally altered the way we receive visual information, from photographs of news events taken by ordinary people on mobile phones to the widespread use of image surveillance. In a world beset by critical problems and ambiguous boundaries, Fred Ritchin argues that it is time to explore the possibilities created by digital innovations and to use them to understand our rapidly changing world.Ritchin investigates the future of visual media as the digital revolution transforms images into a hypertextual medium, fundamentally changing the way we conceptualise the world. Simultaneously, the increased manipulation of photographs makes photography suspect as reliable documentation. In the tradition of John Berger and Susan Sontag, Ritchin analyses photography's failings and reveals untapped potentials for the medium.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was prompted to buy this because I found it in my local Sutton, Surrey library (save libraries! - I would never have come across it otherwise). I subsequently bought it because it is the best attempt I have seen to provide a bit of definition in what is usually a very woolly area of discussion, that is, How does digital technology affect the way we preceive the world? Does it alter the fundamental way we think? Unlike most articles or books which attempt to tackle this notoriously elusive question, this is full of facts that would be hard to gather by any other means, thought-provoking, and entertaining.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The shift to Digital in photographic imaging has changed the paradigm that has ruled photography since its invention, this has not been realized by most people. Ritchin lays out the changes in a clear and concise manner that is engaging and thought provoking. Providing a new idea how to see photographic digital imagery, where the artist name becomes paramount in how we read photographs for notions of truth.
Highly recommended reading.
Michael Wayne Plant
Highly recommended reading.
Michael Wayne Plant
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful
No Thought Unuttered
5 Mar 2009
Format:Hardcover
Photographers certainly know how to simplify their subjects and how to put a frame around a portion of the world so that nothing impinges on their image. However, perhaps because they look at the world through a viewfinder, they sometimes seem to miss not only the larger world around them but the place of their photography in that larger world.
Fred Ritchin, who teaches photography at N.Y.U., believes that the method of capturing images changes the world and that the world changes the method of capturing images. In a some times rambling essay, the author looks at various aspects of photography, with an emphasis on the changes wrought by the digital world. On the one hand he decries the easy malleability of the digital image, and on the other sees opportunity for greater understanding through the digital photograph. He explores possible uses of digital media in the future in ways that reminded me of the world of Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel "Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)". (The Wall Street Journal recommended reading "Snow Crash" for a view of the future; better hurry up before that book is overtaken by events.)
Ritchin complains about the uses of digital media as a means of invading privacy and at the same time suggests that its use can aid humanitarian causes. Although he sees the possibility of either, or both, great benefits and great costs, he does not suggest what photographers can do to direct digital media toward the benefits. Furthermore, after exploring many bold possibilities, he seems to come down for the use of photography on the internet in sites that give the viewer options in how to examine the pictures presented by hidden captions or links of portions of pictures to other sites or similar techniques. It seems a simple direction for a book that aims at lofty goals for digital photography.
Ritchin is primarily concerned about the world of documentary photography and ignores the role of the digital in art photography, although I suppose that his interest in websites that present the viewer with options to follow could be bent to artful use as well as documentary.
While a well turned phrase is always appreciated, often the author's prose turns purple, or takes a flight of fancy, as when he suggests engaging an image of his long-dead grandmother in conversation.
The book is interesting and makes some valid points, but on the whole, it looks like the author had collected notes over the years and decided that no thought could remain unuttered. It will be hard for photographers, viewers and students of media to develop a useful picture of the role of photography in the future from this book.
Fred Ritchin, who teaches photography at N.Y.U., believes that the method of capturing images changes the world and that the world changes the method of capturing images. In a some times rambling essay, the author looks at various aspects of photography, with an emphasis on the changes wrought by the digital world. On the one hand he decries the easy malleability of the digital image, and on the other sees opportunity for greater understanding through the digital photograph. He explores possible uses of digital media in the future in ways that reminded me of the world of Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel "Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)". (The Wall Street Journal recommended reading "Snow Crash" for a view of the future; better hurry up before that book is overtaken by events.)
Ritchin complains about the uses of digital media as a means of invading privacy and at the same time suggests that its use can aid humanitarian causes. Although he sees the possibility of either, or both, great benefits and great costs, he does not suggest what photographers can do to direct digital media toward the benefits. Furthermore, after exploring many bold possibilities, he seems to come down for the use of photography on the internet in sites that give the viewer options in how to examine the pictures presented by hidden captions or links of portions of pictures to other sites or similar techniques. It seems a simple direction for a book that aims at lofty goals for digital photography.
Ritchin is primarily concerned about the world of documentary photography and ignores the role of the digital in art photography, although I suppose that his interest in websites that present the viewer with options to follow could be bent to artful use as well as documentary.
While a well turned phrase is always appreciated, often the author's prose turns purple, or takes a flight of fancy, as when he suggests engaging an image of his long-dead grandmother in conversation.
The book is interesting and makes some valid points, but on the whole, it looks like the author had collected notes over the years and decided that no thought could remain unuttered. It will be hard for photographers, viewers and students of media to develop a useful picture of the role of photography in the future from this book.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
More Questions Than Answers
1 May 2009
Format:Hardcover
Ritchin provides great examples of innovative uses of photography with new media today (web sites, artist's projects...) although he doesn't suggest much as to 'what's next.' He lays out important questions about authenticity with regard to digital photography and the 'truth' behind a photograph. He explains what he calls 'hyperphotography' as the new interactive web based format for photographs. I don't know if his idea about scrolling over a photo to 'see more' will catch on but he definitely got me thinking about the potential for new technologies in photography. This was an interesting read and I appreciate the reproduction of some great photographs.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Comes from an expert in both photography and new media
18 July 2010
Format:Paperback
After Photography comes from an expert in both photography and new media, and offers a fine mix of examination of how digital and photographic media has affected human consciousness, art, and ethics. The photo no longer 'captures a moment': it can be manipulated, repackaged, and shared online. The digital world thus has far-reaching ramifications over print photography and its impact, considered in AFTER PHOTOGRAPHY, makes for serious social concerns key to any high-school to college-level photography library.
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