new Media / digital Photography
In his essay, Photography, Or The Writing Of Light, the French sociologist and philosopher, Jean Baudrillard states that; in photography, we see nothing. Only the lens ‘sees’ things. But the lens is hidden. It is not the Other, which catches the photographer’s eye, but rather what’s left of the Other when the photographer is absent (quand lui n’est pas la).
As Baudrillard implies, though we are lured by the photographer’s gaze, in how the event’s been framed – that of the other, we are not necessarily witnessing its intended reality. It is not so much the photographer’s perceived reality of the event we experience but how the event has been defined and altered by the camera and its lens.
This notion of Baudrillard’s lens is critical in understanding how media defines perception. The lens can come to represent all media including print, film, video, audio, digital and more recently AI – the algorithms acting as the lens to the creator’s perception of reality. Each media presents a different take on the event.
In exploring media throughout my career, the photograph alongside video are the most profound in terms of Baudrillard’s lens – the manipulative and multi process they undergo of perceived reality between the creator and spectator. These two mediums are generally removed from their original source through the alteration of technological advancements – mobile devices, digital, social media and artificial intelligence.
The series of photographs displayed below, were created with the intention of exploring the theory of Baudrillard’s lens, with the intent of creating an awareness how these images exist in a state of flux. They exist somewhere between the photographer’s perceived reality of the moment, the medium’s intervention, and the engagement of the spectator.
No AI was used in the creation of this work.
* Baudrillard, Jean. “Photography, Or The Writing Of Light.” C theory. transl. by Francios Debrix, .2000, accessed 2010, 2018
