The assessment declaration . [I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services]
Provide your own definition (in your own words) on ‘photography’, by referring to the readings, additional research and the practice analyses completed in your blog.
Initially photography was purely for documentation purposes; intended to record an event. In its early years people had no preconceived notions nor expectations of the camera, and so to use it for any other purpose would have been abnormal, however this quickly changed and soon photography became a medium unto itself, in which the affordances of painting began to shift to lend itself towards photography. At this point in time photography’s meaning was more subjective and altered contextually, dependent on the photography; where one would deem it a tool for artistic purposes another may only regard the camera as an instrument to record data. In a modern world in which we are seemingly limitlessly connected, the nature of how we engage with one another has changed, with constantly evolving social norms via social medias, and so with this, the changing view of photography. Be it marketing or a family member sharing a photo, a picture tells a thousand words- thus we have become reliant on it to tell stories (as eyesight is humanities keenest sense; as we have evolved to detect predators).
The rules and art of photography have become a staple in the practice regardless of intent for its use. Much of this can be thanked to Instagram for changing the affordances of photography and how we consume it, allowing for the emergence of quick on-the-go and accessible practice of iphoneography to dominate social media. As we have changed, so too has photography, becoming a vital tool in life not only to record, but to create, track, and reflect on ourselves: “To live is to be photographed, to have a record of one’s life…”- Susan Sontag.
Provide your own definition (in your own words) on ‘videography’ or ‘video practice’, by referring to the readings, additional research and the practice analyses completed in your blog.
Videography has had a very similar development to photography, but has evolved and hit milestones in its progression to art at a much faster rate – (due to photography already have set the precedent for such). Although surprisingly very little has changed in videography. The conventions of cinema were set, but what if videography were to create an art-form not based on these principals and yet could still be merged into cinema? From Albert R Broccoli’s stylised James Bond intros of the 60’s to -Nam June Paik’s experimentation with sound and visual recording devices to alter videographic effects and styles. The art became perfect through the practices imperfections. What was once a mistake to work past was then a goal to try and achieve, or an effect to recreate. This practice of video art has continued on today as the underdog of video production; never quite in the foreground but persisting nonetheless. Due to cinema’s domination of video based art it would highly unlikely for ‘alternative’ practices of video to grow much more than it has, though it is not without its place in society. Music videos have remained ever popular over the past few decades, allowing for greater depth in the music with accompanying pieces, and experimental short film projects are still a fantastic opportunity for smaller creators to become noticed. The definition of videography or video practice is not so singular as that it encompasses many aspects of the field; videography is the culmination of cinematography, lighting, mise en scene, and editing. It as an art is the final result of a project.
What differences and similarities did you discover between the way legacy and online photos are authored, published and distributed?
Photography and photo-publication is a far-cry from what it once was; once being a gruelling process involving several professionals in a field can now be shorted down to a one-person team. Thanks to the boundless possibilities of marketing on social media any single person can publish and distribute their works with a little know-how. Although, whilst this is possible, sometimes the old ways are the best: in reality the major component that has changed within the game is speed, and having the responsibility to handle all aspects of production and distribution can be tasking, thus in having a team of people to share across multiple platforms not only do you start with a much larger basis due to their won immediate connections, you also relieve yourself of additional burdens.
Where a photographer in the past would have had to display work in a gallery or sell off within advertising, the internet has revolutionised the art-form, turning accounts into their own galleries for them to market to their heart’s delight. In this, the more things change the more they stay the same: the rules of photography has remained true, really it is only the space and manner in which we display our works has changed. Instead of morphing photos and interchanging inks, we have Photoshop. Instead of galleries and art shows we have Instagram. And instead of word of mouth we have links to share. Photography is still much the same as it were 50 years ago, merely the affordances of it, the way we engage with it as well as how we engage with it have altered.
What differences and similarities did you discover between the way legacy and online videos are authored, published and distributed?
Modern videos seem to be more concerned with the current moment rather than having longevity in their videos lifespan. Frequency is key; quantity over quality is dominant .For a YouTuber it’s better to have 5 10 minute videos with 1 million views each, than it is one 30 minute video with 5 million views – due to the algorithms in YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo etc. streaming services reward their content creators on view-time predominantly. Making videos based on news is always but only ever current and is easier to market, which is why we see channels such as H3H3, as shown, since moving away from skit based comedy and into long-running podcasts with current celebrities. The spotlight, despite being larger is now fleeting; the flame that burns brighter burns quicker, and so modern creators have to constantly stay on top of their viewers expectations as well as trends of the time in order to yield the maximum coverage for their videos.
It is difficult to blame modern creators though as that there is a sense of ‘everything idea that can be done has already been done’, whereas those creators of yesteryear, despite technological restrictions, had more freedom, as that there was little competition. Ironically enough video-blogs from a decade ago have more in common with amateur videos from 50 years ago than they do to vlogs nowadays, as that they imbue a more free sense of creativity opposed to those they create to merely fill a need. Whilst much has been said and done, there are always ways to re-imagine ideas that always exist, thus opening a gateway for newer creators to emerge.
(1078 words, excluding questions)
Blog posts:
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/11/week-5-networked-media-analysis/
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/11/week-6-networked-media-analysis/
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/11/week-7-networked-media-analysis/
http://www.mediafactory.org.au/cody-nelson/2018/09/12/week-8-networked-media-analysis/
Links:
http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/titles/photomediations/
Kuc, Kamila, and Joanna Zylinska, editors. Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016
http://www.abelardomorell.net/project/camera-obscura/
http://www.erikjohanssonphoto.com/work/
http://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Videoblogging-Before-YouTube-web.pdf
Trine Bjørkmann Berry, ‘Videoblogging Before YouTube’, Published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ72fcHDUC8
Monty Python & The Holy Grail – Bloody Weather
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q2WPneqhhs
Monty Python – Black Beats of Argh Animation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRl1zMUKTxQ
H3H3Productions – ‘Wearing 200 Shirts in the Grocery Store’