From the Analog Archive to the Digital Archive: Reflections on the Dematerialisation of Photography

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Abstract

Photography has evolved from the materiality of silver gelatin to the virtuality of Computer-Generated-Images (CGI). This essay is an analysis of three artworks that use different formats of photographic archives. Gerhard Richter’s Atlas (ongoing project) is made up of physical material, Jon Rafman’s 9-Eyes (ongoing project) is composed of digital images from Google Street View, and Roc Herms’s Postcards from Home (2016) uses 3D images taken from the platform Home of PlayStation 3. The research method is two-pronged: on the one hand, I identify the similarities and the differences of how these works were conceived in the artists’ minds; and on the other hand, I examine how the medium has changed in each one. The purpose of the investigation is to define concepts like identity, objectivity, truth, and reality in analog photography, digital photography and virtual photography.

Keywords

analog, archive, digital, identity, photography, virtual

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References

[1] Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

[2] Baudrillard, J. (2004). The Intelligence of Evil or the Lucidity Pact. Oxford: Berg.

[3] Buchloh, B. (1999). Gerhard Richter’s “Atlas”: The Anomic Archive. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[4] Curly, J. (2013). A Conspiracy of Images: Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, and the Art of the Cold War. New Haven: Yale University Press.

[5] Debord, G. (2012). La sociedad del espectáculo. Valencia: Gallimard.

[6] Derrida, J. (1998). Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression (Religion and Postmodernism) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

[7] Fontcuberta, J. (2013). La Cámara de Pandora. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.

[8] Foster, H. (2006). An Archival Impulse. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[9] Rubinstein, D. (2013). On the Verge of Photography. Birmingham: Article Press.

[10] Saussure, F. (1983). Course in General Linguistics. Paris: Editions Payot.

[11] Smith, R. (2010). The Baudrillard Dictionary. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Author Biography

Ana María Guerra, University of Girona

PhD candidate at the University of Girona and visual artist. My research and my artistic practice focus on the evolution of photography; from the materiality of silver gelatin to the virtuality of computer-generated images. My work is a critique of the impact that technological progress has on other species and on the environment. My academic training has been at the University of the Arts in London, where I completed a master's degree in photography in 2016. My work has been exhibited in England, China and the United States; and has been published in media specialized in new trends in contemporary art.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/cp.v6i12.22014

Published

2017-06-01

How to Cite

Guerra, A. M. (2017). From the Analog Archive to the Digital Archive: Reflections on the Dematerialisation of Photography. Communication Papers. Media Literacy and Gender Studies., 6(12), 171–184. https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/cp.v6i12.22014

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 12 (2017)

Section

Articles