Assignment 2- Review
Name: Khang Nguyen s3709755
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services
Blog reflections
Week 5 – Analogue Photography
Week 6 – Analogue Video
Week 7 – Networked Photography
Week 8 – Networked Video
Review (word count: 887)
a. Provide a definition for ‘analogue photography’.
b. Provide a definition for ‘analogue video’.
c. Provide a definition for ‘networked photography’.
d. Provide a definition for ‘networked video’.
e. Provide definitions for the terms ‘authoring’, ‘publishing’ and ‘distributing’.
f. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way analogue and networked photos are authored, published and distributed?
g. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way analogue and networked videos are authored, published and distributed?
The term ‘authoring’ would suggest how a work is made. For the extent of defining these terms, an example of a photo would be taken. By ‘authoring’ a photo, it would refer to how the photo is taken. Equipment-wise, is it taken with a digital camera, a 35mm-film camera, or a phone? It also refers to how the photo is edited and developed, whether through an app, or processed in a photo lab then hung up to dry. The term ‘publishing’ indicates where the photo is showcased. So a practitioner that is into food photography might upload photos of his or her lunch onto social media like Instagram, while a couple might print and store their wedding photos around the household and in photo albums. The term ‘distributing’ refers to how the photo is shared and engaged with others, on the range of from one other person to audience around the world. If a photographer is a notable name, the photos might be displayed in a photography exhibition, while the food-enthusiast might include hashtags in his or her Instagram post to make lunch photos easily-accessed to other food-enthusiasts on the site as well as base of followers.
‘Analogue photography’ essentially means photography using analogue camera that is loaded with a roll of film. “In analogue photography a picture was formed through transcription, in principle tracing or witnessing actual people, places and circumstances” (Wells 2015, pp. 25-26). To author a photo, photographers have to choose a type of film, from 35mm film to 110mm film and 120mm film. It is essential to acknowledge that different analogue cameras would require different kinds of film. Nowadays, film would come in different types: Colour Negative, Black & White and Redscale and Slide which are different formats that alter with the colour grading of photos (Lomography 2020). However, the concept remains the same. The camera would capture the image by exposing the film to light. The scene would reproduce from the chemical reaction between the silver halides and light (Adorama 2018). The image would then come in latent waiting to be processed in a darkroom.
‘Networked photography’ refers to the authoring, publishing and distributing of photography across the network, most significantly across social networking sites. This process becomes the norm since the rise of digital photography, most notably through the significant increase in popularity of digital cameras. “Digital photography operates through a conversion whereby physical properties are symbolised through numerical coding” (Wells 2015, p. 26). Essentially, digital photography is a digital process that captures an image. This process using the digital camera relies on shutter speed, aperture and ISO to create exposure, making the elements of photography rather similar to analogue photography (Milner, T 2020). With digital photography, the image is viewed instantly while images through analogue photography have to be processed through photo lab. Digital cameras rely on data and size of memory cards, hence camera film is not needed. Most importantly, images via digital cameras can be stored on computers and photographers can choose which photo to process. This sometimes is not a choice in analogue photography as it takes time for photographers to be able to see their work. By storing and viewing in computers, users can also share the work to the internet, as the emergence of internet means photos are now distributed on many social networking sites. “Nowadays, the mobile phone is also the camera”, as we witness the convergence between “the camera, the internet and personal mobile media” (Wells 2015, p. 13). This means that the age of internet has altered how photos are distributed. With analogue photography, it would be hard to showcase photos to the mass. While via the digital age, a post on Instagram has the chance for photos to reach millions of users.
‘Analogue Video’ refers to “the original video recording method that stores continuous waves of red, green and blue intensities” (PCMag 2020). Essentially, this means capturing signals for light and colours in VCR tapes that could be picked up via analogue devices such as record players. It is worth noting that these signals transfer electronically and circulate to transition image to image and produce sound. This is referred as “transformation imagery” (Speilmann 2007, p. 4). ‘Networked Video’ is quite similar in regards to photos when being compared to analogue. Like analogue video, digital video still emphasises on recording but rather than transferring signals in circulation, the input data comes in binary format of 0 and 1. The video then is considered networked when it is spread across the internet, most notably through social networking sites.
Both means of method contain vast similarities and differences. When being produced, both means need physical objects to store data. While an analogue video would be stored in a VCR tape, data of a digital video comes in binary, making it easily accessed and edited via computers or mobile phones. In regards to the course’s prompt with Instagram, digital videos here are crucial on how a video could be uploaded with the emphasis on mobile phones as the platform does not support computer uploading. Analogue videos would require media players such as a TV to be displayed, while networked videos succeed on being shared and viewed across the internet and social media sites, particularly through videos and mobile phones which is an emphasis on convenience.
Reference
Adorama 2018, What Are the Different Types of Film Cameras?, Adorama, viewed 3 May 2020, <https://www.adorama.com/alc/what-are-the-different-types-of-film-cameras>.
Lomography 2020, What is analogue photography?, Lomography, viewed 3 May 2020, <https://what-is-analogue-photography.com/>.
Milner, T 2020, What is Digital Photography?, Cole’s Classroom, viewed 3 May 2020, <https://www.colesclassroom.com/what-is-digital-photography/>.
PCMag 2020, Analog video, PCMag, viewed 3 May 2020, <https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/analog-video>.
Spielmann, Y 2007, Video: The Reflexive Medium, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Wells, L 2015, Photography: A Critical Introduction, 5th edn, Routledge, New York.