Digital Photography and Its Impact on Instruction. PUB DATE 96 NOTE 7P.; In: Eyes on the Future: Converging Images, Ideas, and Instruction

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ED 391 498 IR 017 651

AUTHOR Lantz, Chris TITLE Digital Photography and Its Impact on Instruction. PUB DATE 96 NOTE 7p.; In: Eyes on the Future: Converging Images, Ideas, and Instruction. Selected Readings from the Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (27th, Chicago, IL, October 18-22, 1995); see IR 017 629. Contains an illustration that may not reproduce clearly. PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Art Education; *Art Products; *Computer Uses in Education; Distance Education; Electronic Classrooms; Higher Education; Interactive Television; Microcomputers; Photographic Equipment; *Photography IDENTIFIERS Computer Art; *L.:gital Imagery; Perceived Reality

ABSTRACT Today the chemical processing of film is being replaced by a virtual digital darkroom. Digital image storage makes new levels of consistency possible because its nature is less volatile and more mutable than traditional photography. The potential of digital imaging is great, but issues of disk storage, computer speed, camera sensor resolution, projection, and hard copy output continue to make the necessary hardware expensive. In the case of digital movies for the personal computer, random accessibility advantages are being offset by low resolution. Both digitized stills and digitized movie clips are now typical components of presentations in electronic classrooms and other distance learning situations becyuse many of these images can be compressed to reduce transmission costs. Digital imaging can also be easily manipulated, creating new flexibility in advertising and the fine arts and giving rise to the view of the photographer not as the deliverer of a final product but as the producer of raw products that can be Altered later. Composite images in photography have always been possible, but now there are fewer restraints than ever. The mutability of digital imaging also serves to depict photography as increasingly subjective, rather than undistorted expression of optical reality. Understandably, many imaging education programs are finding niches in both fine arts departments and technical departments. (BEW)

********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original documen. * *************************************w********************************* Digital Photography and its Impact U.S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office o Caucationai Research andImproveentm EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) on Instruction O This document has been reproduced as "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS received from the person or organization MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY originating it O Minor changes have been made to Alice D. Walker improve reproduction quality by Chris Lantz

Points ol view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Historical Context INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Soon after the invention of photography the craft of hand film making was replaced by abeen routinely used since 1982 for big budget film manufacturing industry. Film manufactureapplications such as commercial publishing and and development was mostly taken out of thespecial effects in Hollywood movies. Use of photographers hands, making industry widehighend personal computers fordigital standards possible. These standards gave risephotography did not become practical on a mass market basis until the mid to such advances as the electronic light meter1980's.Consumer level desktop imaging did and exposure automation (Jenkins, 1975).not become available until the late 1980's. The Today the chemical processing of film is being replaced by a virtual digital darkroom. Digitaldevelopment of low cost digital video imaging imaging has also made new levels ofon microcomputer came as late as December consistency possible by the less volatile and1991. more mutable nature of digital image storage. Despite small advances inphotographic Themainrestraint on digital technology sincetheintroduction ofphotography of the last decade has been the Kodachrome in 1934, the most dynamic gainsneed for expensive computer hardware. The have been, and are likely to remain in therecent introduction of comparatively low cost, electronic imaging sector.Once the basicfast and memory intensive microcomputers has technical barriers of memory, processor speedmade imaging possible to those on limited and image sensor resolution are solved, anbudgets. Because of this new accessibility advance in the utilization of photographydigital images are routinely integrated into comparable to the introduction of roll film isinteractive instruction, multimedia likely. The import of these developments ispresentations, educational video and distance magnified when we consider their extension toeducation. Photography is now a small subset the recent introduction of digital movies for theof a new imaging field which is comprised of personal computer. video, desktop publishing, graphic arts and others. Photo education has been transformed Previouselectronic advances mby digital photography. Undergraduate and photography were slow and incremental.Ingraduate programs in electronic imaging have been introduced and virtually all undergraduate 1931theinvention ofnewelectronic components such as powerful capacitors,instruction in photography has a digital imaging prompted Harold Edgerton to develop ancomponent or core course. electronic flash light source. Its original purpose was to record moving objects on filmHardware Issues but the technology was eventually applied to The five main technical barriers to portable flash units. In the 1960's lasersinexpensive high quality digital imaging are: became an important new light source fordisk storage, computer speed, camera sensor processes such as holography. More significantresolution, projection and hard copy output. electronic innovations in conventional photography came with the first integration ofDigitizing in photographic resolution requires large random access memory and disk storage the computer in the photofinishing industry, and then into cameras. Electronic imaging has capacity. It takes nearly 40 megabytes to store the uncompressed information contained in one

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BES1 COPYAVAILABLE 8x10 inch black and white photograph. The cost of fast microcomputers will to Currently the photograph itself isalessa large degree be solved in theshort term for expensive storage medium than 40 megabytesentry to middle level imaging applications of hard disk storage. Efficient computerbecause cost of memory and speed lowers on a storage and dense sensing devices already existmonthly basis.The cost of high resolution but cost and size have not shrunk to the degreecamera sensors, color hard copy andprojection necessary for the construction ofsmall,are more long term problems because the inexpensive cameras of photographicfidelity of film is hard to match with computer resolution. Currently every major overseashardware. Many of these technical barriers are electronic manufacturer has industrial stillbeing addressed in colleges by the availability imaging systems on the market in some form.of costly permanent electronic classroom The Canon Corporation has widely marketedinstallations. Another approach is the use of their consumer levelZapshotstill video camera.many lower resolution portable systemsthat This camera can output low resolution imagescan be used in any classroom. Theelectronic to conventional TV, a color thermal printer, or aclassroom is one in which the professor can color copier. Apple'sQuicktakedigital cameracontrol from a central podium microcomputers can directly input digital still imagesintoand multimedia equipment for selective display computers without the aid of a digitizing board.on a video projector. Many of the hardware restraints on still imaging are effectively lifted for lowresolution applications such as classroom instruction inImpacts on Instruction digital imaging.Current low end computer Digital still images and digital movie models are adequate for many educationalclipsare nowtypical components of imaging tasks.Other more demandingpresemations in electronic classrooms or in applications of the digital still image such asindividual interactive multimedia.Visually commercial color separation require high endenhanced instructional programs canbe equipment. inexpensively mastered on a variety of recently introduced compact disk formats. Educational television applications suchasdistance Kodak's introduction of the Photo CDeducation have also been heavily impacted by solved memory barriers for many still imagethe use of digital non-linear video because it can applications in education and graphic arts.be compressed to greatly reduce transmission Lack of a low cost and easily transportablecosts.Digital movies have many advantages medium for student image files necessitatedover linear video tape systems that arespecific storing files in low resolution format. Pictureto educational applications. The iandom access files on Photo CD can be opened at resolutionscapability of digital movies is conducive to the ranging from low to very high. An additionalintegration of clips into instsuctional computing advantage of the Photo CD is very inexpensiveapplications such asself-paced learning. compact disk authoring of memory intensiveAnother main advantage of the digital video file multimedia programs through the Photo CDformat is its mutability within the computer for Portfolio disk. special effect applications. Digital data filtering has made professional editing effects accessible to those on limited budgets. The same tools In contrast to the success of still images,available to the commercial producer are now thepresent special effect and randomavailable in low resolution to the home accessibility advantages of digital movies arecomputer user. often offset by the disadvantage of low resolution. This low resolution is the result of the extremely high memory and speed Digital movies can be defined on two requirements of the moving image.Apple'slevels for the Macintosh environment . On one introduction of the Power PC can make digitallevel, Apple's original Quicktime digital video movie quality and length more tolerable than itsformat can be utilized as a final production tool. current four postage stamp size. In its original format Quicktime video clips are small and low in resolution. Low resolution

194 Quicktime is appropriate for applications whichand even copied specific paintings and artistic demonstrate basic motion ornon-detailstyles. Rejlander worked in the 1850's and is intensive visual information. It is adequate inwell known for using print manipulations to introducing the concept of digital movies toincrease the artistic capacity of photography many students at a time on low cost computers.(Coke, 1972).This work was immensely On another level Quicktime can act as anpopular at the time but contemporary critics introduction to higher resolution digital moviecriticize it for not being original. editing equipment used for the creation of a near-professional quality video production. Figure 1 PHOTO MONTAGE CREATED IN PHOTOSHOP USING THE CUT Evolution of the Digital Themes INTO AND BEHIND COMMANDS Computer image processing technology has long been responsible for creating futuristic graphics, but as computer capacity increases so does its ability to render or simulate more complex natural forms.Once photographic information is digitized the computer is very flexible in its ability to manipulate the digital image. With the shift from manual to electronic methods, art directors are no longer limited to the restrictions of physical retouching tools and dyes. Common electronic work on commercial and educational images is becoming almost reconstructive, whereas in the past it was only cosmetic. Photographers used to be responsible for final products. Increasingly, they are being thought of as producers of raw products for input and perfection on electronic publishing systems.This attitude among clients often manifested itself only in high budget national advertising, but as technology has become cheaper and more accessible most photography is now affected.

Composite imagery of realistic elements in often unrealistic combinations is descriptive of many digital tabloid photos today. Figure 1 illustrates that several photos may be cut,pasted andblended intodifferent combinations. These techniques are not unique From its inception, the movement to to digital images, although digital compositesestablish photography as an art form was are much easier to achieve. Early pictoralistheaded by painters turned photographers. The photographers also explored the possibility thatearly movement is loosely termed pictorialism the realism of photography could be used as aand started in the mid 1850's. The work of a special effect. Photographers suchas well known pictorialist was Peter Emerson, Robinson and Rejlander were the first to createwho initially disagreed with the movement in composite images that blended several photoshis book: Naturalistic Photography. He argued into one.Their purpose was to pursue thethat the "photographer's task is to discover the formal Victorian themes but also to bring themcameras own rules", not to apply the rules of to life by adding a new degree of realism.painting. Shortly thereafter, Emerson acknowledged the photographer's free will to Robinson constructed scenes which resembledmanipulate photography, but doubted the

195 BEST COPY AVAILABLE veracity of photography as an art form.horizontal photo fit into a vertical format for the Emerson was willing to accept the manipulationcover. The editor referred tothis as "retroactive of photography but was not ready to accept it asrepositioning of the photographers' viewpoint" an art form (Emerson, 1899). (Ritchin 1990; 14). Traditional negatives and prints are The passing down of themes from oneeasily authenticated.But, when the image medium to another is essentially what isoriginates as digital data for direct input into happening today with the introduction ofpublishing systems, this safety buffer does not electronic photography. Many electronic artistsexist.As the possibilities of manipulation today who deal with digitized images comebecome public knowledge, photographic from the field of photography and they continuerealism could lose credibility. Public trust in to work with many of the samerestraintsrealistic images could decline and as a result imposed by analog images. As initialphotographer's might be held more responsible photography emulated painting, initial digitalfor the reporting of reality. The public may imagery tends to emulate photography.Ascome to trust the viewpointand credibility of photography separated from painting and thecertain feature photographers, just as they may pictorial movement, digital photography mustcome to trust some reporters morethan others. also find it's own rules. Electronic photography is considered a lessor craft by many traditional photographers because it is thought of as a Public assumptions that the camera replacement for tasks better suited to film.doesn't lie promotes acceptance of information Once the role of digital images is better definedat face value.Photography has the ability to it will be judged on its uniqueness apartfromdeceive without detection because ofits traditional photography. perception as optical reality.This deception will be even more problematic with highly mutable digital images. Theseissues The Digital Image and Realism demonstrate a greater need for emphasis on visual literacy because of the increased ability Much of current criticism emphasizesof visuals to deceive and communicate. photography's subjectivity. According to Ritchin, photography "... constitutes a rich and variegated language, capable, likeotherApproaches to Imaging Education languages, of subtlety, ambiguity, revelation and distortion (1990, 1). The photograph can Amidst early artistic innovations in the distort detail, frame, vantage point and time.history of photography photo education was Fine art photographers and art critics have beenstill mostly a technical course of study. The leaders in disclosing the ability of the realisticmixing of the art and science curriculums in photograph to deceive (Sontag 1973). Thesephotography originated in the Bauhaus School criticisms are often not part of popularof Art and Architecture in 1919 Germany by discourse because of the trust in optical reality.professor Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. The Both the distorting and artistic power of thecurriculum joined the study of pure art and photograph will be greatly magnified throughscience with pragmatic craft.The school the advent of computer aided image making. expounded the philosophy: form follows function. Moholy-Nagy's department was the first to offer a graduate degree program in The public has come to expect thephotography. Today several technical and fine bending of reality in advertising, but it is also departments of unwitting useinart programs are founding sometimes putto digital imaging. photojournalism.One of the most famous examples of tampering is the 1982 National Geographic cover of the Pyramids of Giza. In Forthose concerned withself this example, thedistance between theexpression, the most important value in a image pyramids were compressed tomake a

t- 196 o is the meaning it conveys, and it is symbolismintegrated into culture and the novelty wore which conveys meaning in visuals. Symbolsthin, society demanded more of it.What are more easily formed or manipulated in digitalstarted out as a mirror of reality was thrust into photography. To the commercialist, highlythe new role of art,documentation and developed technique is often considered thephotojournalism, among many others.Once preeminent vehicle used to express the clientsthese applications of photography were socially vision or symbolism. Fine art programsdigested, more contemporary movements took traditionally emphasize expressionandtheir place. Contemporary themes rediscover a interpretation of meaning through symbols, andnovelty which was most appreciated at commercial or vocational programs emphasize.photography's inception. Electronic imaging is meeting clients needs through technique. likely to receive a similar pattern of acceptance by society. Today the initial contributions of computer imaging are mainly recognized for One approach to these differences intheir technical novelty. The content in many photo education was the "new photographycases is irrelevant. Viewers will increasingly movement."Frank Webster defined newdemand more content and context from photography through the belief that techniquecomputer imaging because the form will cease and meaning are whole and should not beto be a novelty. separated. Photography is defined as a communicative process in which culture both influences the photographer and the viewer of Digital photography is likely remove the photograph. Webster compared traditionalmany of the technical restraints that defme photography education with the training ofphotography today.As a result the public writers. He argued that great writers do notperception of images is likely to shift from that read the dictionary cover to cover or draw uponof a precious document or object to a a thesaurus like a pool of techniques. Theycommodity or raw product which can be integrate the knowledge as they need it.Suchmanufactured into any of a variety of digital knowledge is a part of them, not drawn uponproducts (Mitchell, 1992). Some of the from someseparate identity. Thusperceived advantages of elecuonic photography photographic techniques should be integratedin addition to providing new avenues of intothephotographic applications, notexpression may also redefine the role of separated (Webster, 1985, 15). traditional photography. Traditional photography could become more valuable for applications that require a greater degree of In many contexts digital imagingauthenticity or perceived realism. Since digital eucation has focused exclusively on solvingimages are so easily transmitted and much more technical barriers.As in the beginnings ofwidely accessible, photographic images might photography, the form follows function or thebecome more desirable as a limited edition art integration of only relevant technique takes onobject. Wide popularization of image art on heightened importance with digital imaging.electronic networks could actually increase the Because the digital image environment is sodemand and popular support of the traditional versatile and its technique so volatile tocraft. obsolescence it would be impossible to teach every tool available. Only through the application of broad features can digitalRefereres curriculum be made relevant. Coke, V.(1972). T he Painter and the Photograph: From Delacroix toWarhol. Albuquerque:University of New Mexico Press. Conclusions The pattern of photography's acceptanceEmerson, P. (1899). Naturalistic Photography into society suggests that there was a period offor Students of the Art. New York: Arno Press. initial experimentation where the novelty of the new process was sufficient to hold theinterestsJenkins, R. (1975). Images and Enterprise. of the public. As photography became moreBaltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

197 c Mitchell J. (1992).The Reconfigured Eye:Sontag S.(1973).On Photography. New Visual truth in the post-photographic York. New York: The Noonday era. Cambridge, MA:MIT Press. Press. Ritchin, F. (1990). In Our Own Image:TheWebster, F. (1985) The NewPhotography, coming revolution in Photography.New York:Responsibility in Visual Communication. New Aperture. York: Riverrun Press.

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