| DIGITAL TRANSITIONS:
Selections from the Light Work Collection
January 23–April 1, 2006
Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery
Schine Student Center, Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
January 8–March 16, 2007
Reception: February 13, 6-8pm
Louise and Bernard Palitz Gallery
Syracuse University Lubin House, New York, NY
Details Photography, unlike any other creative visual medium, has always had a close tie with science and technology, from which it was developed in the 1830s. Because of this, its technical processes and materials have changed at regular intervals, with new methods replacing others as they become obsolete. However, in the last two decades a quiet revolution has taken place in the field of photography. For many artists and photographers, the very essence of image making has changed from an analog process to a digital one—from mechanical and chemical, light sensitive film and paper to alpha-numeric code and use of the computer-monitor-printer. The wet darkroom has at least partially been replaced by the computer lab as artists continue to work with the magic of light but now in different forms and with new tools. A radical transition is taking place.
As the Information Age and twenty-first century mature, these changes are bound to be profound in photography and what we call digital imaging or new media. Dramatic changes in the modes of representation and our perception of photographic imagery are imminent. The resultant effects on visual aesthetics will be far reaching and are hard to fully appreciate or envision at this point in time. All film and chemical processes, or even the actual physical and tangible image, may be completely replaced with imagery within the digital and virtual realms. We may someday nostalgically view all traditional photographic prints on paper the way we do the historic daguerreotype and tintype today—as an “alternative process.” The camera may be replaced by an eventual combination of cell phone, iPod, and notebook computer into one multimedia device that captures, stores, and displays imagery. These are but a few possibilities when looking forward and considering our intensely and highly visual culture.
Contemporary photography is in a transitional period filled with unprecedented challenges and adaptations, while artists and technicians come to terms with rapidly changing technology and learn to use these new tools in creative ways. At first glance, improvements in appearance, quality, and size are among the most readily apparent changes in some images from those produced just a few years earlier. Advancements in the rendering of continuous tone within the digital realm have perhaps been some of the most important objectives along with increased resolution and processing power of computers and monitors. Some digital prints are virtually indistinguishable from traditional processes, which may be the objective of photographers who wish to continue to produce an image without showing signs of its actual digital processing and production. Changes in printing materials such as inks and papers have produced prints that share just as much with artistic printmaking processes as photographic ones. With varying degrees of subtlety, the digital process has and will continue to have an effect on aesthetics. While much of photography has been considered a reflection of the reality in front of the lens, that reality is being modified as never before possible, and a new synthetic, digitally generated interpretation has been created. Image protection and appropriation, storage, and presentation will also be among the issues and future considerations faced by photographers.
This diverse selection of work from the Light Work Collection reflects some important and dramatic changes in photography. It explores the new directions artists have taken in the pivotal period between 1990 and 2005. Many of these artists experimented with digital techniques for the first time while participating in the Artist-in-Residence program at Light Work, taking advantage of a well-equipped digital lab and technical support. These images are hybrids of traditional and digital processes. Some artists have gone from analog to digital processes and back to produce a familiar photographic print. Others have embraced digital technology and rather than seeing digital artifacts such as pixilation or micro-banding as objectionable flaws, have used them in new and unexpected ways. Lines between the categories of analog or digital have been blurred and will continue to be. These boundaries will continue to dissolve and have less meaning. The classification of photograph, digital image, and new media will evolve and their definitions will change as new terminology emerges. This exhibition is a significant milestone—it is Light Work’s first retrospective look at work in the Light Work Collection that uses digital tools creatively in a variety of ways. The exhibition provides an enticing glimpse at digital photography’s young history as we look at these works and consider the digital transition taking place, with new technologies redefining what photography may become in the near and distant future.
Christopher Secor
Student curator
©2006
Artists in this exhibition include
Anthony Aziz & Sammy Cucher, Lois Barden & Harry Littell, Matt Black, Ben Gest, Terry Gips, Myra Greene, Sunil Gupta, Deborah Jack, Mona Jimenez, Keith Johnson, Martina Lopez, James Nakagawa, Barry Perlus, John Pfahl, Keith Piper, Neal Rantoul, Zoë Sheehan Saldaña, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Kanako Sasaki, Matthew Swarts, Scott Townsend, Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, and Kim Waale. |
