I appreciate your stance as a journalist in seeking how to represent truth. I can only imagine how difficult it is to have to cater towards media organizations and the narratives they wish to push. I work in the cultural heritage space, and it is similarly difficult to show stories that challenge our views of history. The industry is changing though, but in the end, there is always the framing of those who curate the information being shown to the public. I’m thankful our institution has meaningful methods of deciding what to disseminate in our exhibitions both on-site and digital. In our case, the challenge is convincing those who sit on our board of directors to change the paradigm of just having safe exhibitions, and rather reveal content which challenges our views without influence of the over arching narratives which have propagated through our society.
Thanks again for sharing Matthew. For historically important photographs, Paul Salmons’ usage of Barthes and Sontag to develop a framework for the exploration and revealing of truth is important. The impact of these documentary photographs is more pronounced when we begin to imagine the framing of the photo, and question the photographer’s intent while also analyzing the finer details of the scenes pictured. As viewers held captive by the photographer’s gaze, we are assaulted with the sheer depravity and horror of what Auschwitz was.
In context, this all makes sense. We know these images were taken by a Nazi photographer, and we know of the horrors of Auschwitz and other camps. For a casual viewer it does not take much effort to understand exactly what is going on. It is explicitly stated. I enjoy Paul as a guide for the viewer to dig for deeper meanings, within what is known and discovered, through thoughtful study of these images. With this process the viewer is able to question their own humanity as they connect more deeply to the victims of the holocaust as well as their capturers. We cringe at the sight of those who helped in murdering millions appearing so similar to us.
I wonder how Barthes and Sontag would view the world of photography today. Sontag was around for digital, but I am only familiar with her essays in ‘On Photography’. She was never able to witness what AI is doing today. While there have been techniques to composite photographs in the darkroom, modern digital compositing techniques and the advent of AI generated images further blur the line between reality and fiction. We all know of deepfakes. This tech is only improving.
The ability to separate what is representative of truth against an image makers subjectivity requires a keen eye, imaginative mind, and greater understanding of the technical aspects of digital imaging. I know there is software out there to help us recognize digitally constructed images, but what is a casual scroller through the digital realm supposed to do? Algorithms which target users for specific content take us even farther from truth. I am doubtful that most individuals even have the attention span and desire for this kind of exploration in effort to have greater understanding of the content they consume.
I could go on, but I digress. I will note that this also brings up issues in the archiving of digital information, the digital artifact vs. the physical, but I’ll save that for another time.
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I love how Nostr encourages me to be more thoughtful with what I post for this reason. But damn, if you’re out here on some racist shit, it’s game over for ya 😆 happy to be here somewhat early, I know more of this will be incoming. I’ll be ready on the mute button 😁
Officially 2 months no booze, feeling good!
Eagle Five approaching Planet #Nostr
Thanks for sharing this, was nice in the background while working on images today. My mentor worked for Eastman House in the 80’s making prints from originals, he would bring in “misprints” from Lewis Hine, Eugene Atget, Bernice Abbott and other greats to show students. For me, there’s still something magical holding a physical print created using traditional processes.
Finally got it, wasn’t pushing to me earlier. Thanks for the info! Zaps enabled!
Was able to see the highlights, glad I didn’t fork up the 50 to watch lol.
Not able to get on the TestFlight for Damus, is there a work around?
Nice, was it maxwell that had these ads back in the day? Great reference
Welcome to #nostr island
Did Jake get get KO’d yet?
First glance I saw highly retarded, was thinking I definitely fit in if that were the case 😆
Last few weekends have been great!
Really enjoyed #[0] ‘s interview with Lionel Shriver. She’s very entertaining to listen to. Added her book to my reading list.
#bitcoin
Keen observations. There’s definitely something profound here. I feel, in this economy of likes, we’ve devalued authentic interactions with one another. I’ve heard individuals say they, “like every post because they want to spread love and positivity”, but the simple act of mindlessly liking shows how little someone actually cares, and instead is a monkey to an environment that cheapens our interactions with one another. We’re obsessed with instant gratification and feeling that we’ve done enough to be entitled to a certain result, yet it is hard work to nurture relationships with others and yourself.