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ChapterT o PhotograPhYTheorY

Similarly, when Sontag interprets Jeff Walls digital image of Russian soldiers inAfghanistan (see plate a)lshe feels no need ro discuss its technical production or goinro the ramificarions oi it U"lng a digital rather than a ftaditional photograph' Shedoes tell us that the photog'uphi' fictional' clearly an importantbit-of contextual in-formation, much more * o"u'1t, in her thinking' than telling us the details of howthe photographer constructed the image Sontag gives more import to its meaningand effect.

Although wall,s fictional image could have been made by photographic meansotherthandigitaltechnology,manyphotographicexpressionsareuniquelypossibiebecause of digitai technology, and many artists are exploring the expressive and con-ceptual possibilities of digitized lmagery'

Andreas Gursky .,thL-""' his Lrge-scale photographs -(see Color Plate 14)through digitai means' Genera\ his photographs appear to- be realistic and unma-nipuiated.Lookingatthem,*u"ywo'ldlikelynotknowthattheyaredigitalandenhanced.Theimagesareaestheticallycrispanddetailedwithloadsofinformation.Most viewers knowledgeable about photography do know that they are digital im-ages, but the informati"on does not seem to ie essential to their understanding ofGurskysexpressions,lfviewersafenotawareofdigitaimanipulationsinGursky,sphotographs, no harm is likely to follow'

one o[ Gursky,s images, stochhorder Meeting, Diptych, is two large panels of digitally convened figures thu""p"'""t a meeting;f many executives from large and in-fluentialGermancorporations.Uponcloseinspection,onecaneventuallydeterminethatthescenecouldneverexistinreality.AsdescribedbycriticEdwardLeffingweil,the image shows "a rapt and ghostly audience that fans out in seats ranked along thediptychs base. Their ii"t' oi'lghi l"ud t'p*utd to a disconcerting central mass ofsnow-encrusted granite. Assembled gloups of corporate leaders seated at long tablesarerangedabovetheaudienceaSthoughsetintothemountainorsuspendedinsur'realistic space.,, The assembled executives seem to wait for some "corporate benedic-tion so the business of their convention might begin. Their names appear beforethem on plaques. A cheerless row of decoratiie geraniums extends along the base ofonesection,andi'ernsalonganother.CorporatelogoshoverlikePentecostaltonguesin a cloudless sky above.,,8d wh"th", one is aware of the technology Gursky used tomake the image seems irrelevant. Seeing that it is a fabricated image suffices to knowrhar ir is ficrion with an expressive purpose. The imporUnt expressive point is that ofa fi.ctional metaphor and not how it was made'Computertechnologyallowsartiststomakenewimagesandstatements,unavail-abie without ru.f, t".f iotogy' For example' Thomas Ruff (see Color Piate 22) appro-priated Japanese comics lianga) and animated cartoons (anime) from the Internet'creating "estheticized, soft-focus photographs downloaded from the lnternet' alter-ing them to achieve compelling ait work, at several degrees of separation from theirsource." Thus, througn totp'itt' technology' Ruff was able to "mark new stages inthe appropriation, alt-eration and t,u,,,fo,*utions of otherwise ordinary images',,8g

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Ethical Concerns: Are photographs Moral?

::ffi[:floNs AB0uT DtcITAL tMAGEs- Any manipularion of a photograph car_m.s,imp.r,"",4lltiH,":iTiilt*:il*"ljr*:ff :i#Tj:il,ffidigitally and otherwis.) u., ptrorog;;, "r. generarly not problemaric. As we haveif,1?;illil:];il .n,0". z o., a"",..in,1,,,1orv" o;;,;.*".*n is made may be orpho,ograph','";;.ff J*il::*T:,1:::'*;,1,nil'*t.;*.:"J"1,.Ii:;Photoshop in his makin t.t u"ttiTiri"*an at the vanity)(see color plate 4) to in_rease our understanding and appreciation of the ,-"g. ""arolir.ic presence. sim-larly, one can gain u"rth"ti. t"rtrt il"ilppreciation through ,".nrri.ut knowledgef darkroom monuges made byJerry u.lr*urr., (see plate 13).,"-oo::;l.'l,rTXTl*1T,"liili:llk*:"* uersmann, and a hosr or others con-

e thi ca r g.o u' d, ; t o.""rr"., s o m e rhi n ke rs rt"":il[: :#:"", ;T :i:ffi:TT::ffi" rIil:;,l,t, ff;t|in"' Edward *"i"" l::.i.0":"-.-oi'"",**ons as pseudo-to Crewdsona b".un.o Woodwardjudgesloel ster"*roioi"ari"ohs to be superiorare,,,ear,,u.,o.."",l',.#:::i*l;L."",,fi ;"n;*il**.u:tter,sternrerd,sontology epistemology ""a .rt r.ll"."ito suffer signm.urrtrf ,in.n some photo_ff ii',::*:,';15,:11,ffi:#: : *:''n .'"'*".1' i"." -?'L 0', in ra c t a remultipriedcariboul=.b,u,g.",.]*r";."#,;JFi.::*rr"rt?#rrr',Tffi i{aure book' Migrations' rrr J""g"J *n*^;;;"., thought ,o u. ."uriry-.How manyff :ltl.::T"": ;;;e tnere r r,, ;" ;rr;;-rur" ',ro.i,;; ;;;; the rear worrd,grap hs when, i n '";i,lT', :. '1 :T# ffi;: 1', "T.,}"ffi: mkt Tillll-heticizing narure byaltering t, *il l*0r", technorogy, his photographic practiceould probabry not have aroused u.rg., *d resentment. Thus, a key question is not;:#tt":,:i:J.;',",f; ??:,i'jl1[#;$;.:'::n,';7-.r,dand.urThe next section offers .r*trt.""rti"."iior* or"tnr.ar concerns in photographyt explicates a wide variery or th"orio oii""*,..r" and aestherics that affect howll photographs, digital ""0 "rn".*rr", "r"^_"0", understood, and judged.

ETHICAL CONCERNS: ARE PHOTOGRAPHS MORAL?tllHiJ r,,?:.ll#l;:1Tj :;;' ? :;1"". o n c erns ab o u t e thi ca I a nd u n e thica rgraphic imug., ""Jil;;,j-;,:f,:::j i-lo l"ttlt:."I consequences or photo-o''n*.io?"J*i",i;il,i:1i#:3,".;l;:l,l';#Hlii1:i'*;,fgun. In on photography, soniag,"".l in., ,.u ,u^rlu * ,;i; i, ^ pr"du,ory

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