Theories in Digital Composite Photographs


Book Description

Theories in Digital Composite Photographs: 12 Artists and Their Work presents a theoretical investigation of digital composite photographs through philosophical exploration of artists’ concepts of reality. With an international cohort of contemporary digital composite artists, this book presents twelve cases studies on artists’ motivation, production process, and the relation of their worldview to theoretical interpretation. Author Yihui Huang situates each artists’ work in the context of photographic theory and western aesthetics, including realism, expressionism, formalism and postmodernism. As creation of digital composites grows in popularity and influence, this is the first to integrate a philosophical and theoretical understanding of this unique art form. Featuring a wide range of international artists, this volume is both insightful and inspirational for student and seasoned professional alike.




On Photography


Book Description

What is photography? Is it a source of knowledge or an art? Many have said the former because it records the world automatically, others the latter because it expresses human subjectivity. Can photography be both or must we choose? In On Photography: A Philosophical Inquiry, Diarmuid Costello examines these fascinating questions and more, drawing on images by Alfred Stieglitz, Berenice Abbott, Paul Strand, Lee Friedlander, James Welling, and Wolfgang Tillmans, among others, and the writings of Elizabeth Eastlake, Peter Henry Emerson, Edward Weston, Siegfried Kracauer, André Bazin, and Stanley Cavell. This sets the scene for the contemporary stand-off between "sceptical" and "non-sceptical" Orthodoxy in the work of Roger Scruton and Kendall Walton, and a New Theory of Photography taking its cue from László Moholy-Nagy and Patrick Maynard. Written in a clear and engaging style, On Photography is essential reading for anyone interested in the philosophy of photography, aesthetics, art, and visual studies.




Digital Image Systems


Book Description

In Digital Image Systems, Claus Gunti examines the antagonizing reactions to digital technologies in photography. While Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky and Jörg Sasse have gradually adopted digital imaging tools in the early 1990s, other photographers from the Düsseldorf School have remained faithful to film-based technologies. By evaluating the aesthetic and discursive preconditions of this situation and by extensively analyzing the digital work of these three photographers, this book shows that the digital turn in photography was anticipated by the conceptualization of images within systems, and thus offers new perspectives for understanding the »digital revolution«.







Theories of the Soundtrack


Book Description

A theory of the soundtrack is concerned with what belongs to the soundtrack, how a soundtrack is effectively organized, how its status in a multimedia object affects the nature of the object, the tools available for its analysis, and the interpretive regime that the theory mandates for determining the meaning, sense, and structure that sound and music bring to film and other audiovisual media. Beyond that, a theory may also delineate the range of possible uses of sound and music, classify the types of relations that films have used for image and sound, identify the central problems, and reflect on and describe effective uses of sound in film. This book summarizes and critiques major theories of the soundtrack from roughly 1929 until today. Rather than providing an exhaustive historical survey, it sketches out the range of theoretical approaches that have been applied to the soundtrack since the commercial introduction of the sound film. The basic theoretical framework of each approach is presented, taking into account the explicit and implicit claims about the soundtrack and its relation to other theories. The organization is both chronological and topical, the former in that the chapters move steadily from early film theory through models of the classical system to more recent critical theories; the latter in that the chapters highlight central issues for each generation: the problem of film itself, then of image and sound, of adequate analytical-descriptive models, and finally of critical-interpretative models.




The Photography Handbook


Book Description

The new edition of The Photography Handbook builds on previous editions’ illuminating overview of the history, theory and practice of the creation and consumption of photographic images, and engages with the practical and theoretical implications of the explosion of new platforms for making, viewing and distributing images. New materials in this edition includes new chapters on ‘Photo-elicitation’ and ‘Photography and Technological Change’, exploration and analysis of ‘selfie’ culture, and extensive discussion of the work and practices by a new generation photographic artists. The Photography Handbook, Third edition also features: exploration and discussion of key photographic terms, including composition, framing, visualisation, formalism and realism analysis of the ethics of photojournalism, and ethical issues specific to digital photography practice today case studies illustrating different photographic production practices and specific related issues, including an assignment for the Guardian, the Libyan People’s Bureau siege, and the work of war photographers a foregrounding of digital photographic practices, and exploration of areas including photographic manipulation, digital photojournalism, citizen journalists and copyright on the internet end of chapter summaries of key points, and an extensive glossary of essential photography terms. The Photography Handbook, Third edition is an invaluable resource for students, scholars and practitioners of photography, and all those seeking to understand its place in today’s society.




The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography


Book Description

CD-ROM includes text and pictures from the encyclopedia.




Rethinking Photography


Book Description

Rethinking Photography is an accessible and illuminating critical introduction to the practice and interpretation of photography today. Peter Smith and Carolyn Lefley closely link critical approaches to photographic practices and present a detailed study of differing historical and contemporary perspectives on social and artistic functions of the medium, including photography as art, documentary forms, advertising and personal narratives. Richly illustrated full colour images throughout connect key concepts to real world examples. It also includes: Accessible book chapters on key topics including early photography, photography and industrial society, the rise of photography theory, critical engagement with anti-realist trends in the theory and practice of photography, photography and language, photography education, and photography and the creative economy Specific case studies on photographic practices include snapshot and portable box cameras, digital and mobile phone cultures, and computer-generated imagery Critical summaries of current photography theoretical studies in the field, displaying how critical theory has been mapped on to working practices of photographers and students In-depth profiles of selected key photographers and theorists and studies of their professional practices Assessment of photography as a key area of contemporary aesthetic debate Focused and critical study of the world of working photographers beyond the horizons of the academy. Rethinking Photography provides readers with an engaging mix of photographic case studies and an accessible exploration of essential theory. It is the perfect guide for students of Photography, Fine Art, Art History, and Graphic Design as well as practitioners from any background wishing to understand the place of photography in global societies today.




Liquid Metal


Book Description

Liquid Metal brings together 'seminal' essays that have opened up the study of science fiction to serious critical interrogation. Eight distinct sections cover such topics as the cyborg in science fiction; the science fiction city; time travel and the primal scene; science fiction fandom; and the 1950s invasion narratives. Important writings by Susan Sontag, Vivian Sobchack, Steve Neale, J.P. Telotte, Peter Biskind and Constance Penley are included.




The Routledge Companion to Photography Theory


Book Description

With newly commissioned essays by some of the leading writers on photography today, this companion tackles some of the most pressing questions about photography theory’s direction, relevance, and purpose. This book shows how digital technologies and global dissemination have radically advanced the pluralism of photographic meaning and fundamentally transformed photography theory. Having assimilated the histories of semiotic analysis and post-structural theory, critiques of representation continue to move away from the notion of original and copy and towards materiality, process, and the interdisciplinary. The implications of what it means to ‘see’ an image is now understood to encompass, not only the optical, but the conceptual, ethical, and haptic experience of encountering an image. The 'fractal' is now used to theorize the new condition of photography as an algorithmic medium and leads us to reposition our relationship to photographs and lend nuances to what essentially underlies any photography theory — that is, the relationship of the image to the real world and how we conceive what that means. Diverse in its scope and themes, The Routledge Companion to Photography Theory is an indispensable collection of essays and interviews for students, researchers, and teachers. The volume also features extensive images, including beautiful colour plates of key photographs.