Photography Transitions to the Information Age
Paras Kaul

Written from a talk presented at the SPE Conference at
Mississippi State University, Spring 1999

Introduction

It was difficult to come up with a name for this paper because there are so many facets to the subject of how photography has changed in conjunction with technological changes in the culture since 1975 when I first began my study of the photographic medium. The title of the paper might have been called, Photography, Past, Present, & Future, because there have been so many changes in this medium over time. I wanted to use the words "information age" because that's how politicians in Washington, DC referred to the period of time between 1990 and 1999.

Since there are long term ramifications for technological growth, it is necessary to become involved with policy making at the national level in order to preserve human rights. Artists need to be involved at the political level to maintain a balance between the corporate world and the art world. The words "photography transitions" suggest the change that occurred from the photographic past to the present digital photography. Though the technologies available for photography today are far more extensive than in the past, some of the issues being addressed in digital photography are similar to issues related to photography in the past. The trend has been a movement toward digital photography, although my own preference is still black and white photography on silver paper, which paper I seldom see used today.

Photographic art, like all art, is constantly redefining itself and many concepts from the past are being redefined in the present with technology being a leading factor for new definitions. In fact, the word "Netizens" has been added to the dictionary. What is a Netizen? Netizens are citizens on the Internet. For more information on this subject, see Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet by Michael Hauben and Ronda Hauben. I met them in Washington, D C at a Computer Policy Conference in May of 1999, and they both have a good perspective on the present and future of Internet communication.

An analogy exits between the development of technology in the photographic past and the development of digital photography and the World Wide Web of the present. Open communication directed towards establishing new guidelines and policies for change through periods of technological transformation is absolutely essential. My interest in doing this talk, had to do with an odd phenomenon that occurred in my life which was the opportunity to experience a period in time where photography was not generally accepted as art. During that time, I was among a small group of fine art photographers doing graduate studies in photography in Northern California. These were artists from Sacramento who studied photography with me. We spent much of our time defending photography as an art form and nearly had a show shut down at the California State University, Sacramento Art Gallery because of the sensual nature of the photographs presented; the subjects were nude.

Later I lived through another period of time in which I was fortunate to be among a similar handful of artists who had the opportunity to work with computer graphics and animation at the School of the Art Institute in 1981-83. At this time we had to confront a similar resistance to acceptance of the computer as a valid art medium. We spent much of our time talking and explaining how computer graphics and animation should be considered art, defending our right to use the computer as an art medium.

Photography as a Communicative Medium

This paper, among other things, addresses Beaumont Newhall's statement that since 1839 photography has been vital as a means of communication and expression. The paper suggests that this medium has been a major influence in formulating social and political policy in the past as well as in the present. In 1902 the Alfred Stieglitz collection of photographs, by 31 photographers, called attention as a body of work because each photograph expressed a sensitive communication about human life and nature. Although the messages in these photographs were seen as early as 1902, they were not understood for their contribution to art until 1933 when they came to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. General public acceptance of photography as an art form came much later in the 20th Century. In addition to the acceptance of photography as an art form, the medium also became vital as a tool for documenting historical and political events.

In a similar cycle of history, the advent of the computer as a technological medium was not initially perceived as becoming a medium for artistic expression. As faster computers with greater storage capacity became available with graphic software for desk top systems, this medium began to become accessible to artists as well as to other professional communities. Once softwares began to have some graphic capability, artists were eager to experimetn with making art on computers. Tom DeFanti, Professor of Engineering in the Electronic Visualization Lab at the University of Illinois, introduced some of the earliest video tapes of computer animation, created by artists, to an annual conference of the Special Interest Group for Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) in the early 1970's.

With this SIGGRAPH viewing, began the long term acknowledgement that artists, once again, would be using new technologies, and computer graphics could be considered art. SIGGRAPH's annual conference began to include a digital art show as a portion of their program, and some of the first computer graphic art ever produced was shown in art shows at SIGGRAPH from 1989 - 1991. Patric Prince, art historian, and myself spent a year co-authoring a CD-Rom of computer graphic art work produced during that time. The CD was called The Art of Visual Intelligence and was produced before the making of CD's became common practice for digital artists. Additionally, the images on this CD-Rom were scanned on some of the earliest scanners which took many minutes per image, unlike today when an image can be scanned in a few seconds.

It took even longer to convince the public and art museums that computer graphics could be considered art. Even today, with the acceptance of computer graphics and animation as art, exhibiting art in museums poses multiple problems in regard to display devices, computer systems, and lack of technical assistance to keep the hardware running for the duration of a show. Today the computer has exploded as a medium for artists and has become yet another medium for creative photographic expression, as digital photography has leaped forth as a major medium for phtographic artists. The development of Adobe's Photoshop application had much to do with the popularity of digital photogarphy.

With the development of the World Wide Web (WWW), new methods of communication, expression, and advertisement have ensued. Just as the camera initially created a frenzy of excitement for its ability to capture real events and the people who lived them, the World Wide Web has rapidly grown in the last five years and is continuing to grow faster than any other technology known to humankind. Initially, the WWW was also limited to crude HTML programs; whereas, today there are HTML editors and softwares for more sophisticated development. 3D is being explored by animation companies and through Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). Standards for VRML have been established. Additionally compression programs for audio and video have been developed to accommodate the lower bandwidth limitations of WWW Broadcast.

Cable TV is being converted to digital cable in many locations, and in the very near future, independent artists will be able to netcast hi-resolution digital art directly into the homes of the general public using the multimedia capability of the Internet. Art produced by independent artists will be downloaded into digital televisions connected to the Internet in our homes. The World Wide Web has become more powerful than photographs in books, or advertisements in magazines and newspapers, due to the universal netcast capability of this communication medium: world wide expression. The communicative range of the Web is the world. In regard to photography, the World Wide Web has also opened up a whole new avenue for presenting photographic imagery.

As our lives have begun to evolve onto the Net, the World Wide Web has become a new presentation medium for photography. With this development, new issues related to social and political policy have arisen. These issues need to be considered carefully by all professionals in the field of photography, because the definition of art as well as law needs to be redefined once more. Photographic art in the future may not be what it is today, but it is important to maintain a balance between the past, the present, and the future.

In regard to technology, it is nearly impossible for computer experts, let alone the general public, to be well informed about all of the issues involved. The accelerated pace of the computer industry has nearly enabled us to obliterate the past in the pursuit of faster and more efficient technology which has allowed us, in many instances, to forget the value of content while pursuing the latest hardware and software. A never ending threat exists that school budgets may reach a point where they can no longer support state of the art technologies. What if we can't all afford to keep up with the technology? Can we keep up with the artistic growth of the rest of the world? Is there a possibility of standardizing systems? Today collaboration between artists, computer professionals, and policy makers is essential in order to successfully reshape the nature of art education.

With this collaboration, resources also need to be shared. Artists need to work together. While the issues of today are similar to the issues of yesterday, the technologies of today have alot more power and are rapidly taking over commerce as well as other professions in a race to present world wide presence and dominance in trade markets.

Early Photography: Issues Related to the Camera as a New Technological Medium

The early photographic processes were not much more than crude experiments with light and chemistry. These experiments enabled individuals to capture simple human silhouettes. Although simple by today's standards, this form of photography influenced a whole way of photographing, the photographic representation of people. The feeling of immortality was evoked in the individual as he or she viewed their own image within the photographic picture frame. This feeling of immortality empowered early photographers and led to the widespread popularity of the medium. The increased sophistication and portablity of the camera lucida and camera obscura resulted in a new kind of photographic imagery which resembled drawing and even required drawing skills to bring out the photographic representation of the image.

When Louis Daguerre introduced the first daguerreotype, based on his work and the work of Joseph Niepce, public attention to photography increased. In this first image, Daguerre captured a corner of his room as a black and white image, and this event created a major stir in the public. He continued to refine his image making process which resulted in many more daguerreotypes which were black and white images reflecting city scenes and later more detailed portraits of people. A new type of sophistication was added to portraits with this new method of creating them. The advent of the daguerreotype contributed to the development of portrait studios which gave rise to a new profession of portrait photographer. The excitement caused by Daguerre's contribution to the medium became an inspiration to inventors to continue researching new subjects and processes for the photographic image. Their incentive to develop efficient methods of capturing photographic images was increased by the demand for pictures from the middle class in the late eighteenth century.

Advancements in Photographic Technology

Talbot's contribution to more efficient processing changed the nature of printing and processing, making it possible to create more realistic photographs, and also to photograph architecture and landscapes. As technology improved, photographic processes became more sophisticated, and the quality of the photographic image improved. With the increased ability to capture more complex imagery, the interest in the photographic image began to change. Eventually, the photograph was not limited by bad resolution and bad lighting situations. There became an increased interest in photographing outdoors. Photography began to be used to capture nature and later to capture human nature. A period of time, marked by the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, explored the painterly/pictorial possibilities of the photographic image.

Communication began to revolve around the issue of whether or not photography could be considered art. Pictorial photographs became popular, and opportunities began to develop for showing pictorial work in gallery like environments.The photographic image began to influence the world view by defining and expanding what the public would be looking at. Photographs began to gain importance as evidence of fact. For this reason the photographic image began to be the format for historical documentation. Issues began to arise in regard to what should and should not be photographed. The question arose as to what would be left behind to tell the story of the present then, now the past. Ethical issues began to arise in regard to the glorification of events and the idealization of people. Of the photographers available, whose images would be selected to tell the history?

Books and the Industrial Revolution

Invention of the printing press led to the production of books which increased the circulation of photographs. The invention of the half tone process enabled photographs to be printed with letterpress in 1880. This invention allowed information to be recorded in word and image and began a rapid movement towards news photography. Books began to be written which included photographs, bringing more information to the viewer. Information became more convincing when revealed through the photographic image.The Industrial Revolution brought forth new designs for small cameras which were easier to carry than the early heavy cameras. More individuals became interested in acquiring cameras, as it became easier to carry them. Although the medium was promoted as a creative medium, the majority of people with cameras got them for amusement or to document family activites. The mass production of cameras was an outgrowth of the Industrial Revolution.

Many of the early camera owners photographed as an attempt to capture beauty or to document events. Efforts were made to enhance how people looked in their portraits and to enhance the importance of events. Later, photographs produced by artists brought attention to a different kind of beauty created by the manipulation of light combined with what are now referred to as the elements of art. As photographs began to capture more complex and beautiful images, art galleries and museums became interested in showing the photographs of their local photographers.

As photographers began to experiment with the medium, their subject matter began to be questioned, especially in regard to the unclothed body. This exploration gave rise to issues of privacy. Pornography, including child pornography began to enter into the photographic documenation of humanity, which gave rise to controversial debates related to morality. The ethics of being a photographer became a subject of conversation. Extending into contemporary time, the work of Mapplethorpe stands out as creating some of the greatest controversy. This controversy influenced political action toward censorship.

Motion Led to Moving Pictures

In spite of the social and political issues arising over what kind of photographs should be taken, who to photograph, and how to photograph, development of the photographic medium was allowed to continue. The money making potential from the medium was great. Edweard Muybridge, who specialized in industrial photography, later introduced motion as a visual element in the still photograph. His photographic series with horses in motion called attention to a whole new aspect of photography which led to the general interest in moving pictures. Eventually motion in the still frame gave way to moving pictures on film which gave birth to the film industry and later to television.

Present: Culture in Transition

Currently we are experiencing a major transition in our culture. Technology is once again reshaping society and producing a new culture as a result of the Information Age. There is no denying the transition. Past President Bill Clinton endorsed the accelerated technological race by embracing terminology like the "Information Super Highway". The Internet was a subject in nearly all of Clinton's public presentations, almost as much as the subject of Monica.

My experience with the speed at which the photographic image can be circulated occurred in the past as I look back to my brother's image on Time and News Week magazines in 1999. While talking with Clinton at a presidential event, a photograph was snapped with Monica, Clinton, my brother, and a few other attendees. The assumption was made that my brother would want to slander the President for his association with Monica at a public gathering. Videotapes with my brother were viewed on the news for ten or more days in a row. The picture was shown on the news in France, on Cosmopolitan magazine, and a video clip appeared on the web and even on the Saturday Night Live television show. Eventually, a representative from the Larry King show contacted my brother to see if he wanted to be on King's talk show to talk about the event with Clinton and Monica.

Today's professionals need to be informed about political policies and issues and to be aware of the channels for influencing decisions which effect policy making. Professionals in all fields need to be prepared to raise the difficult issues caused by new technologies which are impacting professions by changing world view and necessitating new methodologies as substitutes for old ways of doing things.

Whereas a photo lab in the past needed to have chemicals and enlargers, today thousands of dollars are needed to purchase computer equipment. If a school wants to assure photography students that they can keep up with the state of the art, they must find sources for significant funding to compete with art departments in other schools. Adobe's Photoshop application coupled with a scanner has enabled artists with no background in photography to produce photographic like imagery without a camera.

With developments like this, how can a traditional photographer maintain the respect he or she has acquired over time? It is essential to maintain respect for the artistic content of work from the past, produced with older technology? Recognizing the state-of-the-art of the technology, relative to the time the work was created, is important when evaluating contemporary artwork. We must be careful not to fall into a trap where new technology is more important than content and personal expression. Job security becomes another issue in question. How do we maintain boundaries that have provided job security? How do we provide the best education for students without feeling pressure to compete with technological skills they have developed which were previously not available for us to learn. Currently the answer to thse quesions is open communication.

Ethics Related to Internet Technologies

It is necessary to be prepared to raise the difficult issues caused by new technologies which are impacting our professions. It is time to focus on the impact of computing technology on education, the workplace, privacy, professionalism, ethics, and policy. Once again technologies are defining the organizations, institutions and communities of the near future.

Information on the history of photography was gathered from Beaumont Newhall's History of Photography