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Blog Index
Review – Word Count: 1078
Provide a Definition of ‘Analogue Photography’
Analogue refers to the pre-digital age of a medium, often in a physical form. An example of an analogue process is a ruler, which uses physical lines and numbers for the user to determine the length or width of an object or surface (Woodford, C. 2010-2012). These are often tedious procedures, involving skill and knowledge.
With the background of the concept out of the way, analogue photography refers to ‘old style’ film photography, using an analogue camera (Woodford, C. 2010-2012). The process of analogue photography used plastic film to react and record light onto these physical strips, which were then carefully developed in a chemical solution and printed onto image paper, and hung to dry. In the early days of the practice, these images were often black and white.
Provide a Definition of ‘Analogue Video’
Analogue video is very different from how digital video operates. Lister describes the process of analogue as physical properties being stored as ‘analogous’, or similar, tactile form (2009, pg.17). Similarly to analogue photography, light is reflected through a photosensitive lens onto a plate, with its patterns are captured as a voltage, and converted into grooves and frequencies.
During the days of analogue television, these frequencies were sent to broadcast televisions using ariels and transmitted to homes, projecting the previously captured light to the back of television screens, creating a moving image. This transfer of radio waves can happen both on a national scale and on a local scale
Provide a Definition of ‘Networked Photography’
Networked photography is often associated with mobile camera devices, such as smartphones or tablets. They have become something new and revolutionary in the grand history of photography, being most people’s ‘default consumer camera’ ( Palmer, D. 2014, pg. 249). These devices are able to capture a moment or memory instantly to your device, with the storage capacity beyond the wildest dreams of the analogue photography age.
This is because images are no longer stored physically, but rather, digitally. Instead of the aforementioned physically labouring task of developing photos using film, images captured on smart devices are converted and stored as a digital code. This allows for files to be unbelievably small in scale, and easily convertible. This means that most networked photography content is authored, published and distributed all on the one device, through services such as Instagram.
Provide a Definition of ‘Networked Video’
Networked video, similar to networked photography, is an evolution of its counterpart, analogue video. While networked video also completely redefined the storage of video products, it also changed how we interact with video media. Originally, all video was ‘hard video’, with a physical end to the product, once you had viewed it, it was done. This was reminiscent of the analogue print media format. However, with the rise of video-blogging, video became endless, or ‘soft’, with hyperlinks and suggested autoplays keeping users in a constant, compelling loop. This was the peak of ‘refreshingly amateur’ (Berry, T. 2018, pg.8) content, having a smaller scale and relatable vibe compared to the mainstreams of Hollywood. This was people being people
Furthermore, once platforms like DailyMotion and YouTube hit the world, video blogs and other content could be uploaded with even more ease, rather than learning to meticulously code in videos to your blog, footage could be uploaded seamlessly to the web. This progressed as social media has, and now, users can make, upload and distribute video content almost anywhere, even Instagram.
Provide Definitions for the Terms ‘Authoring’, ‘Publishing’ and ‘Distributing’
Authoring – The Creation of Content
Authoring refers to the process of capturing and/or creating the product you are going to post. An example of authoring a product would be taking a photo of a tree on your mobile phone, and saving it to the camera roll.
Publishing – The Initial Sharing of Content
Publishing refers to the process of sharing the authored content to an initial audience, whether that be on a specific platform, to a specific group or on a specific press run. An example of publishing would be posting that previously mentioned photo of a tree to your Instagram for your followers.
Distributing – Getting the Content Further
Distributing refers to the process of attempting to reach a larger audience in comparison to the published audience. This can involve sharing the content on different social media sites, categorising and hyperlinking the product. An example of distributing is adding hashtags to your photo of the aforementioned tree to reach a larger audience.
What Differences and Similarities did you discover between the way Analogue and Networked Photos are Authored, Published and Distributed?
While networked photography is an evolution of its analogue counterpart, it has differed greatly in scale and accessibility. Analogue photography was an expensive and exclusive hobby, not easily available to everyone. Film wasn’t cheap, and to publish a taken photo either took an immense amount of skill and resources to develop personally, or costed money to get done professionally. In comparison, networked photography almost completely breaks down all the barriers held up by analogue, with every other device on the planet having a camera, with the ability to capture staggeringly good photographs. Furthermore, there are more options with how photos are taken, such as in colour, rather than the B&W of typical analogue pictures.
Networked photography also allows for cheaper and easier publishing and distributing methods. Pictures can be instantly uploaded and shared on software such as Instagram to your immediate friends and the world. However, this raises the debate of ‘photography as an art form’ over a ‘social practice‘ (Kamila, K. Zylinska, J. 2015, pg.8) with analogue photographers being a bigger deal due to the skill needed, in comparison to anyone being able to take a picture now. Furthermore, film photography meant that every capture mattered, with people taking more time for ‘pure vision’, and would often result in more ‘art’ being produced and distributed.
What Differences and Similarities did you discover between the way Analogue and Networked Videos are Authored, Published and Distributed?
Networked video is somewhat of a hybrid of its counterpart, analogue video. Analogue is hard-video; it has a structured and physical start and end. When you go to the cinemas, the movie eventually ends, and you leave. In contrast, networked video is soft, it has no direct or clear end, it can link off or suggest similar content to keep you watching. This is because there is a staggering amount of content being authored and published every second, on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.
This ease of video production opens the world up to a variety of niche and ‘amateur’ content that can be more recognisable than cinema to the right person. However, there are still generations of people who don’t get the appeal of this kind of content, and prefer the traditional distribution of television and film, completely disregarding networked video as a legitimate art form or entertainment medium
Reference List
Berry, T. B 2018, ‘Situating Videoblogging’, Institute of Network Cultures, pp. 9–22
Kamila K & Zylinska J, editors. Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016, http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/ titles/photomediations/ (pp.7-16)
Lister, M et al 2009, ‘New Media: A Critical Introduction.’ Routledge, New York, pp. 16-21
Palmer, D 2014 ‘Mobile Media Photography’, in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, (eds) Goggin G., Hjorth L., Routledge, New York pp. 249–55.
Woodford, C. (2010/2012) Analog and digital. Retrieved from https://www.explainthatstuff.com/analog-and-digital.html