Prior to the digital age, photography was a way for someone to recreate a feeling by capturing a frame of something they saw in the real world. Nowadays, photography can be controlled and manipulated by an artist in order to purposely create a message. The exhibition “After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age” displayed several photographs that creatively demonstrated several techniques introduced in Mitchell’s readings.
Before i entered the exhibit i set some expectations based on the name of the show and the research i did online. I expected to see manipulated images that demonstrated the newest digital technology. The first piece that caught my eye was “The 49 States”. Before reading the description, I tried to determine my own analysis of what this piece was trying to represent. At first, I thought that a photographer had taken similar shots in 49 different states, and then maybe edited them to resemble one another. After reading the description, I realized that the artist has used Google Earth’s street view to snapshot the pictures, and then edited them to resemble America in the 1960’s. After reading the process i then looked back at each picture to find some meaning behind why the artist chose each specific angle, place, and time. I realized each of the 49 images displayed the sun, usually peaking through something in the foreground. This made me believe that maybe each photograph was supposed to depict the same time of day in different places. I then tried to see if i could point out a specific state. I looked for New Jersey, since i’m from there and most familiar with the scenery. The nature in each image were very hard to differentiate. All i could conclude was that the one image with the self service gas station in it could not have been New Jersey. I believe the artist wanted the audience to believe these images were taken in the past and not just edited with filters. The artist accomplished manipulating each of the present day photos to look retro, while using some of the newest satellite technology to take them.
While some may be attracted to photographs with a lot of life and detail, I constantly find myself invested in the more simple pieces. “Corridor II” immediately drew me in with its contrast of shadows and lights. The photograph puts you in a mysterious space and gives you a point of view that makes you feel anxious. While all you can see is the area in darkness, it shows you that there is light around the corner. For me, this light represented some life that was awaiting around the corner. The picture brought me back to my childhood days of playing video games. Nintendo 64’s James Bond 007 game put you in the eyes of a spy whose life was always at risk. I remember having to set up specific weapons and load guns as I turned the corner of the several warehouse settings, just in case there was an enemy awaiting me. It was that same paranoid feeling the video game gave me that i felt while examining “Corridor II.” Both may not depict a realistic situation, but a realistic space. I felt that the photograph was meant to express some type of dark lonely place, figuratively, with an outlet of happiness and life just “around the corner.”
Browsing the exhibit, I noticed how many of the pieces related to Mitchell’s reading. “Bombardent”, a piece with no wall text, demonstrates Mitchell’s concept of “representational commitment.” The photograph displays realistic aspects, such as a blue construction roof, a sign, and lantern lights in color, while the background and smoke from what seems to be an explosion in black and white. The hue and color differences add to the element’s spatial relation with one another. It also shows how the artist used this to his advantage to take elements he most likely added in, like the smoke and a small missile, and display them in the same space as everything else.
“When I Grow Up I Want to be a Cooker” and “Girl with Puppy Dog Eyes” demonstrate Mitchell’s idea of substitutions. “When I Grow Up I Want to be a Cooker” add’s elements to the little boys fake cigarette to “fit of a [the] photograph to a [the] story.” In a “Girl with Puppy Dog Eyes” the artist removes the eyes of the girl and replaces them with those of a puppy. Mitchell says this is a “common form of transfiguration by attribute substitution.” Both artists created a less realistic picture but used the proper manipulation techniques to get across the intended message.
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