Eleventh International Conference on The Image

Abstract

My presentation aims to explore how evolutions in photographic technology may alter the viewer’s appreciation of both perception and the perceived object within the context of photographic representations. Primarily through examining digital photogrammetry (multiple overlapping photographic images regenerated into online three-dimensional objects) I will question aspects of the subject/object divide perceived in “hyper real” images. As emerging optical technologies are changing how we make and view visual imagery, we enter into an era of mixed realities where the image and the ‘real’ are becoming increasingly intertwined. This hybridisation of the photograph and digital technology borrows heavily from traditional photographic conventions of truth and reality. However, the experiential nature of this hybrid imagery gives the image/object a sense of presence, providing new ways of re-presenting truth and knowledge. Paradoxically at the same time the malleable nature of this technology can weaken the indexical link between the referent and its representation. The image, as “object” when applied to this digital environment, generates the potential for a re-imagining of Merleau-Ponty’s theories on perception (Giddings, ed: Lister 2013). When the viewer can infinitely alter their perspective, what happens to the subject/object divide and the embodied experience that Merleau-Ponty discusses?