Creativity Summary 3

Kelsey Best

Digital Creativity

Summary #3

Understanding Digital-Synthesized Photographs

Through Theories of Knowledge

Summary

         The article begins by comparing digital photography to traditional film, clamining that more time is spent fixing photos in photoshop than capturing the perfect picture. Though some tradition is perhaps lost in transition, photoshop allows artist to convey messages that would not have been possible using older methods. Contemporary architectural theorist Mark Gelernter believes that combining this with a strong education is vital, because one’s intention and ideas are formulated in knowledge. Another key to artistic photography is defining reality, and deciding what notion of it should appear in the photographs.

         Tom Bamberger is a contemporary photographer living in Wisconsin. Using the panorama style photo to depict altered landscapes. By copying a section of something, he can seamlessly attach the duplicates so as to create a perfect scene. Science plays an important role in this style of art, as does geometry and knowledge of technology. In this work he speaks of Darwinism and how science is the best explanation we have for the phenomenon of life.

         Another key to photography is asking what truth you should find there. For Tom Bamberger, the answer is still unfound. He is astutely aware that photographs cannot always capture the truth of what he is seeing, as he attests in an anecdote about trying to photograph the sunlight. For him, the more beautiful is, the more truthful it is. This lead him to his current method for working, with the aim to beautify nature in order to show its truth. His goal is to show the world more clearly and bring joy to others in the process.

         However, he does not feel that his work is a failure if the audience fails to grasp the concept. He invites people to create their own meaning from the work based on the simple act of seeing it. To him, reality is what you want it to be, so forcing his reality onto others may not serve them when they try to decipher a meaning in his work. Those who make art typically have some sort of problem or question in regards to their own realities, and Bamberger’s work is the result of his quest for truth.

         The article sums up by reminding us that beauty is a particular kind of form that people gravitate towards. Everyone loves beautiful things, it’s just the things that change from person to person. Brilliant formal quality is something that Bamberger finds beautiful, as illustrated by his work. However, photoshop is not the only tool that photography students should be learning. The best tool is the frame of mind. Learning to see alternate views of reality is the most important aspect, while photoshop is there to help make it happen.