Photography Reborn Excerpt

This excerpt discusses the ways portraiture has changed in recent years. The author explains that there is "turning away from representing the individual," and a new emphasis on manipulation and transformation of an individual. The author discusses how digital photography has changed the nature of portraiture. While in regular film photography the body is often a symbol of the self, in digital photography the body is often distorted. 

One interesting point that is made os how digital photography is perfectly suited for our culture. We have a "peculiar fascination with celebrity," and the ways in which those celebrities' appearances change from day to day like a "shimmering illusion." The author claims that for this reason digital photography is deal for this age in which the body itself is an unstable and changeable object. 

I also found it interesting to think of the photograph as a storytelling device. This is mostly true for film photography, though in the digital age we can no longer look to photographs to tell us the truth. You never know when you are simply viewing a photoshop fairytale as opposed to an actual scene from an actual place in time. Digital technology has infact "changed the story," and this can be fun and whimsical, but it is not the source of truth it once was. As I am new to blogging, I also found it interesting to learn that the word "blog" comes from "web log." You learn something new every day.