Week 2 Forum: ‘Other than Photography’

Find a piece of work that has some kind of link to your own practice or research interests (you may already have something in mind or you may need to give this some thought). This could be anything you like – a film, a painting, a piece of text; but not a photograph.

Living wines app.^​†​

I was shown this app last Christmas and could see right away the application and potential in presenting an enhanced, and extended experiential photography. Augmented reality, which the app is based, is already being used in a variety of commercial settings. For example, I have seen it used to augment traditional books and make the characters sit up off the page and talk and interact with you.^​‡​ This has the potential to become cliche, or distracting of the central themes. However, in terms of including the subject that you are photographing, the technology, if used collaboratively and compassionately, could lead to interesting new ways to present photography.

Linking to this week’s reading and the studium and punctum,^​§​ it could be used to add additional elements to the subjects story, such as audio narration of the background and context of the image to create that ‘puntum’ moment of resonance in the image.

I have been considering and exploring for a while, the fundamental impact that ‘gaming’ technology is going to have on all of the creative industries. Related to Marshal McLuhans discussions around ‘The Medium is the Message.’^​¶​ the mediums and platforms that are associated with this technology. For example,  Photo-realistic rendering and powerful software such as Unreal Engine are being used in creative ways outside of their intended use, such on screen graphics for the Weather Channel.^​#​ Real-time photorealistic rendering is starting to be used in film,^​**​ and companies such as ‘The Mill’ are developing innovative motion capture solutions for automotive applications.^​††​