Name: Molly Blythe s3715996
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 (practice analysis)
Week 6 – Analogue Video (practice analysis)
Week 7 – Networked Photography (practice analysis)
Week 8 – Networked Video (practice analysis)
Review ( Word Count – 1,074)
a. Provide a definition for ‘analogue photography’.
Analogue in the context in which it will be used here refers to older practices utilised. Within this regard analogue photography can be described as the process of of exposing film to light to capture and imprint an image on it. Additionally,photography used to be viewed as something that ‘other’ people did, not the everyday person. Photography used to be reserved for professionals, advertisers, and photojournalists (Zylinska, pp. 7) with the whole process of photography being longer than it is now. Analogue photography required professionals to be selective with what they captured as film space was limited, dark room processing was delicate and time consuming, and any edits had to be made by hand without any errors.
b. Provide a definition for ‘analogue video’.
Analogue video can be described as an electronic medium that is dependent on the continuous transfer of its signals within a closed circuit between the recording and the reproduction equipment. Because of this mediums reliance on signals, there arises the opportunity for manipulation, which many video artists took advantage of. Differentiating itself from analogue photography as analogue video can be simultaneously recorded and redistributed (Speilmann, 2007) .
c. Provide a definition for ‘networked photography’.
Networked photography is an evolution of analogue photography; an evolution brought on by the advancement on the internet and digital devices. Networked photography sees a shift from solely print based modes of distribution towards a highly connected mode of distribution enabled by the accessible nature of modern mobile phones and social media (Palmer, 2014).
d. Provide a definition for ‘networked video’.
Networked videos, likewise to networked photography, refers to video that has been authored, published or distributed outside of analogue traditions. Networked video does not rely on physical signals but rather is information that can travel along networks of people, users, platforms, and devices.
e. Provide definitions for the terms ‘authoring’, ‘publishing’ and ‘distributing’.
Authoring: The process of creating and developing a photo or video; it can involve all aspects of pre-production such as scripting, actual production such as directing and recording, and post-production such as the editing process.
Publishing: The preparation and medium for which a piece of content is consumed or viewed. Publishing encompasses all aspects that prepare the content for viewing such a printing, preparing accompanying descriptions, or simply pressing share on social media.
Distribution: The process of expanding the reach and scale of audience a piece of content has. Distribution may occur by distributing multiple copies of content, sharing context through various channels, or the redistribution of such content.
f. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way analogue and networked photos are authored, published and distributed?
Authored: One of the main differences between analogue and networked photography is the device used to capture such images. Analogue photography relied heavily on having your camera and capturing the right moment at the right time, as Henri Cartier-Bresson (Analogish, 2017) suggests as an analogue photographer “you’re always waiting…[there’s] a fraction of a second” between achieving the composition you want and something entirely different. While the main device used to capture networked photography, the smart phone, has the ability to retain the frames before and after an image is taken. Apple’s live images are a prime example of this, users are able to capture a moment and not have to worry if they have missed the moment altogether.
Published: Both analogue and networked photography share similarities in preparing an image for wider consumption, titles and descriptions are generally always prepared for both, although networked photography may include hashtags in such preparation. Whilst analogue photography requires the longer process of physically developing and printing film to be published, networked photography’s publishing process has widely simplified this long process to simply essentially be just pressing a few buttons at its most simple form.
Distributed: Analogue photography’s distribution was in retrospect quite limited; to have an image widely distributed it had to have multiple copies produced and sent out for display, and even this larger mode of distribution was still limited in the amount of people the photograph would end up being exposed to. This often long and extensive process for an analogue photographs distribution is highly juxtaposed by the instantaneous and highly connected manner in which networked photography is distributed. Within the click of a button and a few setting changes networked images can be simultaneously shared amongst multiple platforms, groups and even different accounts; accompanied by a whole myriad of information further networking and re-distributing the image such as hashtags and geo-location tags.
g. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way analogue and networked videos are authored, published and distributed?
Authored: Analogue video was authored with a direct intention in mind; the piece would either be an art statement in the case of Nam June Paik or be broadcast as a television program or for film, but everyone involved was considered a professional in their area. Networked video on the other hand gave rise to the DIY, the amateur and the vlog. Content was made just for the sake of making it, any one could make it, and it could be about absolutely anything. Vlogs or travel montages, like Zach Lower’s, grew in abundance over social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.
Published: Many networked videos in 2020 are published with the main intention of gaining something whether it is popularity, followers, or even revenue. Whilst this is also true for analogue video, due to the arrival of the internet amateur content had the ability to gain a large audience and subsequently becomes profitable or rewarding in some manner for the amateur creators. As Berry (2018, pp.12) recalls this notion of “seeing the internet as a marketplace” was on the rise and thus content started to be published with the intention of becoming a commodity.
Distributed: One of the main differences I though of when considering analogue and networked video was the change in the ability to replay something. Analogue video is highly volatile; whether its the stereotypical film burning and being destroyed by a projector that appears so many times throughout movies, or relating more to Nam June Paik’s troubles of technology deteriorating. Networked media does not face the same problem; a video can be shared over and over again only falling victim to compression which the results of are hardly noticeable at times, and yet the original video remains fully intact.
References:
Analogish, 2017, Henri Cartier-Bresson – The Decisive Moment, Vimeo, Analogish, n.d, viewed 20 April 2020, <https://vimeo.com/178360907>.
Berry, T 2018, ‘Situating Videoblogging’, in Videoblogging Before YouTube, Institute of Network Cultures, viewed 21 April 2020,< http://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Videoblogging-Before-YouTube-web.pdf>, pp. 9–22.
Palmer, D 2014 ‘Mobile Media Photography’, , in G Goggin & L Hjorth (eds), in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, Routledge, New York, USA, pp. 249–55.
Spielmann, Y 2007. Video: The Reflexive Medium, English end, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Zylinska J, 2016, ‘Photomedications: An Introduction’, in Kamila K & Zylinska J (eds) Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016, viewed 4 April 2020, <http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/ titles/photomediations/>, pp. 7 – 17.