Blog spot for Washington State University - Introduction to Digital Media class (FA332)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Reconfigured Eye - Chapter 2
Read chapter 2 of the Reconfigured Eye. This ebook is available thru griffin.wsu.edu. Post your comments onto this blog post by Tuesday, September 16 @10pm to receive credit.
17 comments:
Anonymous
said...
In Chapter 2: the Nascent Medium, the author describes the early beginnings of digital imagery. I found it interesting to learn how early digital imagery was first used: 1964. Just like the initial invention and use of the internet in the late 1960s, digital imagery was created for the government, vital to their missions and communication networks. Also, I found the parallels between the popularization of film photography and digital imagery intriguing. In order for the public to make use of this technology, commercial entities were required to simplify the process and create inexpensive methods for the public to use. Lastly, because of the popularity of a recent technology, commercial use went wild with Photoshop and other photoediting programs. Various government entities and media organizations attempted to regulate the manipulation of digital images; however, just like the internet today, the regulations came too late to be accepted by the public, thus causing a burgeoning technology for public exploration.
I thought this chapter was pretty interesting it that it covered the arguement between digitaly altered pictures and its original. I liked how it provided the pros and cons of the use and widespread availablity of digital enhancement in pictures.
This chapter actually made me think about photography in a different way. The first section about the advances of science with the help of photography was all information I knew, but put together in a way which provided some new insight. For some reason I never connected photography with science. I always thought that photography was what artists did, and scientific photographs were scanned or something. Photography has contributed more to science than i thought. I enjoyed the second section more. When reading a paper i never think that an image is altered. It makes sense though, and is kind of scary. Images are almost more powerful than the actual words in an article. tampering with photos could be very dangerous. I liked this reading more than the first. This reading took things that I already knew about and discussed them i a different light.
Chapter 2 explains the early development of digital imaging starting with space exploration which I thought was fascinating. The emergence of digital imaging technology also allowed the military to use it to retrieve valuable information.
It's interesting how, according to the Wall Street journal, 10% of all color photos published in the US in 1989 had been digitally retouched or altered. I can only imagine how high the percentage is today.
Further on in the reading it is explained to us the changes in image-capture devices of higher quality, and how much easier it eventually became to access and store digital images.
Personally, I found this chapter pretty interesting. The chapter gave me some more information about why it is wrong for journalist to edit photos. Over the last year I have done off and on work with the Daily Evergreen as a photographer. Earlier this year my editor and I were discussing the standards of the paper. He told me that in photo journalism it was a major taboo to overly edit a photo. He also said that photographer in the past from various different papers have been fired for editing photos. Ultimately, the chapter added more clarity.
This chapter covers a subject that I've gotten to know very well inside and out. Although I didn't really know the history behind digital photography to such an extent, I'm aware of the controversies that surround the digital image. That quote stating that people are just going to see the complementing photograph in the news as an illustration in the future...I think that man has got it. I think that time is going to come very soon, if it hasn't already. The fine line between image and photograph is too fine to see now.
I found the first part of this chapter to be not as interesting to me as the second half. When it talked about "popularization" some of the things mentioned like when cds were introduced and when cameras became easily attainable was interesting. It is also interesting to see how digital imaging came together and has progressed in quality over the years.
The second chapter of the Reconfigured Eye tackled the expanding ideas and availability of computer technology to change the way things are viewed. Without this technology maybe our society would be less fake and centered on what we look like. The first place it was used was to "enhance" the perception of the moon by taking out blemishes and imperfections. This technology has obviously been added on too in the last couple of decades and gives new meaning to the tittle of the article, "Reconfigured Eye."
CHapter 2: the Nascent MEdium was an interesting chapter. Very fun to read because of the pros and cons and the facts about digitally altered photos in the past and now. I would bet just about anything in my posession to say that 100% of the photos we see in newspapers, magazines etc. are digitally altered. I thought it was cool to see the history of digital imagery and I see the internet really being a large influence on digital images being viewed, created, and distributed.
I found it interesting that the reason digital photography caught on was not for artistic purposes originally. The main reason digital photography became a success was due to people applying the technology in fields like space exploration, medicine, and science. The part of the article that was particularly interesting to me as an advertising student was the discussion about how digital technology directly affected advertising by allowing color separation and retouching. I take this kind of feature for granted and would never consider separating computer graphics from photography, so it was interesting to read how the development of computer graphics through science lends itself to art. The ability to make digital processing technology accessible to everyday home use has allowed the technology to grow and continue to be developed. To see how over time paintings and then photographs have been replaced, it raises awareness as to what will replace digital imaging.
Reading Chapter 2 made me really see digital imaging in a different light. Before reading the chapter I only really thought about it as an art; a way for people to be even more creative. I never really thought so much about how digital imaging has contributed to science, discoveries, and other things we have come to learn about our surroundings. It's just really interesting to think that what we know about things such as our solar system and even the functions of our own body came to be known through the process of digital imaging.
I enjoyed reading the part about how photographs are altered. As an advertising major, I know that in order to sell a product it needs to look appealing, and sometimes altering is a must. People are even altered to look better. We see altering in advertisements on a day to day basis. We see the women and men in ads and think we should look like them. In reality, the people in the ads don't actually look like this. This is why altering photographs is such a powerful thing.
As someone said before, I too was surprised to see digital imaging taking its roots all the way back into the 60's.
The situation with over editing a digital image in chapter 2 and its morality can be looked at in all major fashion magazines and Woman's magazines. There are many instances where already gorgeous and fine looking women are made to look even thinner and sicklier. Further enforcing the negative image placed on women that they need to have 2% body fat to be happy.
Back to the subject at hand.
It makes sense that the original use of digital photography/imaging was for scientific purposes. It is more reliable and cant be damaged as easily like film can. Plus the fields of science are the areas that create a majority of new technology since they are the ones that get most of the money to come up with new technology.
Chapter 2 offered some interesting insight. It explained the development of digital imaging and how it worked its way to becoming an art media instead of merely for fixing errors and commercial purposes. Digital imaging seems to have offered a lot to different aspects of society such as in the fields of advertising, communication, construction, government, etc. However, like other technologies, it has the potential to steer towards the negative. Today, just about every image on a billboard, magazine, newspaper, book, myspace profile, dvd cover, poster board, etc. has been touched up in one way or another. Ethics come into play in fields such as journalism where photos are meant to be credible by staying original and unaltered. While digital imaging has its benefits, like most things, it can be as harmful as it is helpful. An example would be the effect of the media on the self esteem of women. Digitally altered feminine bodies on magazine covers and movies display a view of perfection that many young women strive to achieve. The damage is when many of those girls are being diagnosed with bulimia and anorexia. Just as the internet offers a vast amount of resources while also stomping on a few copyright laws and providing obscene material that children may accidentally stumble upon, digital imaging has a dark side.
what i found interesting about this chapter was how early digital photography had been around, i hadnt really known about it until the nineties. Another thing i liked about this chapter was the part about digital photo minupulation, i thought this was interesting because they tried to regulate it, but it didnt really catch on, i think that is unfortunate, i think that could really be used positively towards combating airbrushed pics in advertising, giving people poor body image
Essential an overview of the history of digital images, this reading told me little I didn't already know. As in previous blog posts, I see digital imagery and a sort of.. dumbing down and a forgery of reality. Unsurprisingly, digital images got their start in a war-ready environment as a way to quickly share information, from which point it spiraled out of control as soon as the software packages and technology were released to the public. While this does usually lead to the software being used to the fullest in ways that the creators never intended, that is not necessarily a good thing. Without control on who has access to this technology, it makes it that much harder to sift through the tons of crap to find the real gems. However, this does make those gems stand out more by comparison. The use of digital images are great for sharing technology quickly as demonstrated in the reading by scientists/the military, but for how the technology is being used today, I would almost go so far as to call it abuse.
17 comments:
In Chapter 2: the Nascent Medium, the author describes the early beginnings of digital imagery. I found it interesting to learn how early digital imagery was first used: 1964. Just like the initial invention and use of the internet in the late 1960s, digital imagery was created for the government, vital to their missions and communication networks. Also, I found the parallels between the popularization of film photography and digital imagery intriguing. In order for the public to make use of this technology, commercial entities were required to simplify the process and create inexpensive methods for the public to use. Lastly, because of the popularity of a recent technology, commercial use went wild with Photoshop and other photoediting programs. Various government entities and media organizations attempted to regulate the manipulation of digital images; however, just like the internet today, the regulations came too late to be accepted by the public, thus causing a burgeoning technology for public exploration.
10799170
I thought this chapter was pretty interesting it that it covered the arguement between digitaly altered pictures and its original. I liked how it provided the pros and cons of the use and widespread availablity of digital enhancement in pictures.
-10820196
This chapter actually made me think about photography in a different way. The first section about the advances of science with the help of photography was all information I knew, but put together in a way which provided some new insight. For some reason I never connected photography with science. I always thought that photography was what artists did, and scientific photographs were scanned or something. Photography has contributed more to science than i thought.
I enjoyed the second section more. When reading a paper i never think that an image is altered. It makes sense though, and is kind of scary. Images are almost more powerful than the actual words in an article. tampering with photos could be very dangerous.
I liked this reading more than the first. This reading took things that I already knew about and discussed them i a different light.
10983666
Chapter 2 explains the early development of digital imaging starting with space exploration which I thought was fascinating. The emergence of digital imaging technology also allowed the military to use it to retrieve valuable information.
It's interesting how, according to the Wall Street journal, 10% of all color photos published in the US in 1989 had been digitally retouched or altered. I can only imagine how high the percentage is today.
Further on in the reading it is explained to us the changes in image-capture devices of higher quality, and how much easier it eventually became to access and store digital images.
- 11011637 -
Personally, I found this chapter pretty interesting. The chapter gave me some more information about why it is wrong for journalist to edit photos. Over the last year I have done off and on work with the Daily Evergreen as a photographer. Earlier this year my editor and I were discussing the standards of the paper. He told me that in photo journalism it was a major taboo to overly edit a photo. He also said that photographer in the past from various different papers have been fired for editing photos. Ultimately, the chapter added more clarity.
10836528
This chapter covers a subject that I've gotten to know very well inside and out. Although I didn't really know the history behind digital photography to such an extent, I'm aware of the controversies that surround the digital image. That quote stating that people are just going to see the complementing photograph in the news as an illustration in the future...I think that man has got it. I think that time is going to come very soon, if it hasn't already. The fine line between image and photograph is too fine to see now.
10787608
I found the first part of this chapter to be not as interesting to me as the second half. When it talked about "popularization" some of the things mentioned like when cds were introduced and when cameras became easily attainable was interesting. It is also interesting to see how digital imaging came together and has progressed in quality over the years.
10818015
The second chapter of the Reconfigured Eye tackled the expanding ideas and availability of computer technology to change the way things are viewed. Without this technology maybe our society would be less fake and centered on what we look like. The first place it was used was to "enhance" the perception of the moon by taking out blemishes and imperfections. This technology has obviously been added on too in the last couple of decades and gives new meaning to the tittle of the article, "Reconfigured Eye."
above comment by
10879197
CHapter 2: the Nascent MEdium was an interesting chapter. Very fun to read because of the pros and cons and the facts about digitally altered photos in the past and now. I would bet just about anything in my posession to say that 100% of the photos we see in newspapers, magazines etc. are digitally altered. I thought it was cool to see the history of digital imagery and I see the internet really being a large influence on digital images being viewed, created, and distributed.
10790386
I found it interesting that the reason digital photography caught on was not for artistic purposes originally. The main reason digital photography became a success was due to people applying the technology in fields like space exploration, medicine, and science. The part of the article that was particularly interesting to me as an advertising student was the discussion about how digital technology directly affected advertising by allowing color separation and retouching. I take this kind of feature for granted and would never consider separating computer graphics from photography, so it was interesting to read how the development of computer graphics through science lends itself to art. The ability to make digital processing technology accessible to everyday home use has allowed the technology to grow and continue to be developed. To see how over time paintings and then photographs have been replaced, it raises awareness as to what will replace digital imaging.
-10852780
Reading Chapter 2 made me really see digital imaging in a different light. Before reading the chapter I only really thought about it as an art; a way for people to be even more creative. I never really thought so much about how digital imaging has contributed to science, discoveries, and other things we have come to learn about our surroundings. It's just really interesting to think that what we know about things such as our solar system and even the functions of our own body came to be known through the process of digital imaging.
-10792617
I enjoyed reading the part about how photographs are altered. As an advertising major, I know that in order to sell a product it needs to look appealing, and sometimes altering is a must. People are even altered to look better. We see altering in advertisements on a day to day basis. We see the women and men in ads and think we should look like them. In reality, the people in the ads don't actually look like this. This is why altering photographs is such a powerful thing.
10821166
As someone said before, I too was surprised to see digital imaging taking its roots all the way back into the 60's.
The situation with over editing a digital image in chapter 2 and its morality can be looked at in all major fashion magazines and Woman's magazines. There are many instances where already gorgeous and fine looking women are made to look even thinner and sicklier. Further enforcing the negative image placed on women that they need to have 2% body fat to be happy.
Back to the subject at hand.
It makes sense that the original use of digital photography/imaging was for scientific purposes. It is more reliable and cant be damaged as easily like film can. Plus the fields of science are the areas that create a majority of new technology since they are the ones that get most of the money to come up with new technology.
-10858366
Chapter 2 offered some interesting insight. It explained the development of digital imaging and how it worked its way to becoming an art media instead of merely for fixing errors and commercial purposes.
Digital imaging seems to have offered a lot to different aspects of society such as in the fields of advertising, communication, construction, government, etc. However, like other technologies, it has the potential to steer towards the negative.
Today, just about every image on a billboard, magazine, newspaper, book, myspace profile, dvd cover, poster board, etc. has been touched up in one way or another. Ethics come into play in fields such as journalism where photos are meant to be credible by staying original and unaltered.
While digital imaging has its benefits, like most things, it can be as harmful as it is helpful. An example would be the effect of the media on the self esteem of women. Digitally altered feminine bodies on magazine covers and movies display a view of perfection that many young women strive to achieve. The damage is when many of those girls are being diagnosed with bulimia and anorexia.
Just as the internet offers a vast amount of resources while also stomping on a few copyright laws and providing obscene material that children may accidentally stumble upon, digital imaging has a dark side.
10710866
what i found interesting about this chapter was how early digital photography had been around, i hadnt really known about it until the nineties. Another thing i liked about this chapter was the part about digital photo minupulation, i thought this was interesting because they tried to regulate it, but it didnt really catch on, i think that is unfortunate, i think that could really be used positively towards combating airbrushed pics in advertising, giving people poor body image
10914255
Essential an overview of the history of digital images, this reading told me little I didn't already know. As in previous blog posts, I see digital imagery and a sort of.. dumbing down and a forgery of reality. Unsurprisingly, digital images got their start in a war-ready environment as a way to quickly share information, from which point it spiraled out of control as soon as the software packages and technology were released to the public. While this does usually lead to the software being used to the fullest in ways that the creators never intended, that is not necessarily a good thing. Without control on who has access to this technology, it makes it that much harder to sift through the tons of crap to find the real gems. However, this does make those gems stand out more by comparison. The use of digital images are great for sharing technology quickly as demonstrated in the reading by scientists/the military, but for how the technology is being used today, I would almost go so far as to call it abuse.
10782406
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