The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era

Mitchell, William J.

ISBN 10: 0262132869 / ISBN 13: 9780262132862

Published by The MIT Press, 1992

About this Item

Unmarked text. Previous owner's stamp on front end page. Illustrated. Notes. Selected Readings. Index. An analysis and a demonstration of the end of traditional film-based photography and a preview of the new filmless, electronic "photography" that allows computers to synthesize entire scenes from digital geometric models, to people actual scenes with actors who were not there, and to erase people or objects who were. 273p. Measures 9x10 inches.

Seller Inventory # 28114

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262132869
• ISBN 13: 9780262132862
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: very good

About this title

Synopsis

An explanation of a new digital technology that is revolutionizing the art of photography describes how computers can synthesize or alter images and explains how this capability may present dangerous questions of veracity for photojournalism.

Reviews

In this first comprehensive and scholarly discussion of the topic, Mitchell (dean, School of Architecture and Planning, MIT) analyzes the ethical and legal implications of digital imaging technology, the aesthetic potential of the computer medium, the loss of the supposed veracity of the photographic image, and the future of photography as we know it. Warning that the certainties of camera-recorded fact must be left behind as we enter the "post-photographic era," the author predicts the end of traditional film-based photography and its replacement by computer-captured and/or constructed images. His explanations of the technology involved are necessarily technical but are made fully accessible to lay readers through a discussion that is both readable and engaging. The two- and three-way juxtaposition of images show how meaning is affected in the altered version (e.g., imagine the appearance of Rambo at Yalta through the effective blending of images). High-quality illustrations and examples are taken from historical photographs and paintings, photojournalism, architecture, and collage art. Highly recommended.
- Kathleen Collins, New York Transit Museum Archives, Brooklyn
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.