Question #10

Question 10. How has digitalization affected photography?

Digitalization has shifted the authority of the photograph from the subject to the photographers by allowing them to extend time and incorporate space and sound. Photography is no longer just about making illusionistic windows on the material world or collapsing events into single moments. The constraints on how a photograph should look have broken down; they no longer have to be two-dimensional objects that we look at on a wall. This elimination of former artificial barriers is also good for those who wish to practice the art and craft of photography because it encourage makers to open the doors of perception to new ideas and methods for making photographs.

R. Hirsch & J. Valentino (2001)

续三个月前的灵感，这次我发现如何避免 Photoshop 把放大的 pixel 模糊化成顺顺的点线面（因为我就是要突显 pixel）。当你改 image size 时（Image > Image Size），记得把最下面的选项栏从 Bicubic (best for smooth gradients) 换成 Nearest Neighbour (preserve hard edges），那么pixel 就会保持原状、被放大突显。

The digitbird, Vanellus digitalleus. 2011. Canon G5. Cropped and enlarged at 6.4X.

当你捉到和承认 pixel 的存在时，你才能体会到数码摄影的整个成像过程。这好比，当你承认生物是由小小细胞（或者万物基于12种微粒+4种力？）时，你才能体会生命的奥妙。当你在阅读这个句子时，你的脑细胞正在和它的邻居细胞沟通！是的，这种奥妙并非在于这些小小个体，而是在于这些小小个体之间的互动。

The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together.

Carl Sagan in Cosmos (1980)

对于摄影而言，一张照片的冲击、张力、感动、内容和奥妙则产生于每一个 pixel （或者银化合物）被激发后的排列。简单的道理、简单的排列，就能让你的大脑知道这是一只鸟（或者更精确地说，Vanellus miles）。当你按下快门，一个个体就出生在此宇宙中。