Digital BW, The Print

"Editor P.O.V. Image Service" <editor@...> writes:

> David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
> 
> >If I beat my head on a photo of a wall (suspended by a string), I will
> >not hurt my head much.  If I beat my head on the real wall, I will.  I
> >claim that the photo of the wall *is* in fact an abstraction of
> >reality.  It's certainly not the real thing.
> 
> Precisely...
> 
> And, as the photo is axiomatically an abstraction, there is no LOGICAL 
> reason why a PhotoShopped image is a more or less accurate mediated 
> representation of reality than is one that was not altered via digital 
> methods..

I agree completely.  Of course, knowing that it *could have been*
altered a lot says something practical about how much credence we
should give a photograph, in isolation, as "proof" of anything.  

> By Austin's own arguments, the final output from PhotoShop and digital 
> printing could well be more accurate representations of reality than 
> could a traditional silver print..

Very possibly.  And the choice is made by the *person* doing the
work.  As always in art. 
-- 
David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b@...  /  http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
 John Dyer-Bennet 1915-2002 Memorial Site http://john.dyer-bennet.net
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