Fred Ritchin After Photography

    Upon reading Fred Ritchin's After Photography, three quotations in particular caught my attention. The first quotation that I found quite interesting was, "Rather than a 'decisive moment' selected from an advancing continuum, the digital photograph can acknowledge a more elastic sense of time, where future and past can intertwine and be as decisive as the present..." I found this quote to be extremely profound in its description of the role of the digital photograph. This particular quote explains how a digital photograph can do much more than just depict a moment in time; it can also be used to compare the past and present, or show change over time. This also makes clear that when used alongside other digital photographs from various points in time, a digital photograph can depict growth and change, and even compare people or places decades or centuries apart. This quote emphasizes that the role of digital photography goes far beyond just capturing one moment in time, and can span across time periods to show change and development, or can aid in comparisons. 

    A second quote in After Photography that I found intriguing was, "The idea of a portrait will evolve to depict what may be a virtual being, not an actual one, taking into account our alter egos as avatars and the like." This sheds light on the constant evolution of the world of photography. This quote explains the reality that, as technology advances, so does the way in which we take photographs. This will only continue to occur as society grows more and more technologically advanced. It is this constant advancement of technology that will also likely go on to change the very concept behind certain photography styles, such as portrait, and alter what photographs are even considered portraits. 

    A third and final quote in Fred Ritchin's After Photography, that really caught my attention was, "A photograph that attempts to get at the complexity of individuals is considerably more rare." This implies that it is easy for a photographer to capture a subject in the way in which it presents to the naked eye, but much rarer for a photograph to be able to tell a story or depict depth and varying emotion. For example, this quote explains how capturing an image of an individual, maybe in a poor, war-torn setting, and making them appear vulnerable and helpless is rather expected. What would be far more difficult, yet spectacular, is being able to photograph such a solemn subject, but capture the various layers of that individual's life or personality in one image. This could be achieved by capturing an underlying sense of strength or resilience when photographing such a subject, with a rather obvious melancholy presence. This ability to bring to light more than just the obvious feelings a subject conveys at first glance is a difficult component of photography, but when mastered, makes for a far more powerful image.