72dpi max siedentopf
Introduction Images on the Internet are changing our lives. While images were once only reserved for a certain few, we now live in a time where we are drowning in floods of images that we are exposed to each day. No matter if these images are taken with our iphone, analogue-, digital- or webcam, nearly all of them end up on the web. Bundles of different technological advancements revolving around digital media and image making have taken over and are transforming our daily lives. All social spheres are infiltrated. There are no borders for the mass communication and the making and sharing of images in the 21st century. They come disguised as digital cameras, laptops, smartphones and ipads and follow us everywhere. No matter if at home, at work, in cafes or on vacation, they are with us all the time. And they are affecting all generations. The way we look at images, the time and attention we spend on images, the way we value them has changed. Digital media is creating new ways of perceiving images to the extent that it changes our perception of space and time. But not only the way we look at images has changed, but also the way we make them and what we do with them. Today, everyone is able to make images, edited them and publish them to an audience which covers the entire planet. We re now snapping as many photos every two minutes as humanity as a whole did in the 1800s. Just alone on the the photo community site Flickr 1.54 million pictures are being uploaded each day. In addition the tools we use to make these images have also changed. We can t only make them with our digital cameras, but also with our phones, our laptops, with scanners, webcams, computer programs or even by simply remixing other images. And we have access to an almighty and unlimited source of images and information. In an instant we can know and see anything we want and are able to imagine. The opportunities to create and know are limitless. This is also slowly changing borders between professionals and amateurs while creating an entire culture revolving around images. On the web images can be manipulated, whole lives can be insinuated. People can manipulate and stage their entire self-representation. Images on the web let you be who ever you want to be. We want others to see our images, our lives, ourselves. We even upload our photos to websites to be rated by complete strangers. Our memories are caught inside images and are uploaded and stored externally on the web. We record our entire vacations to the extent that we aren t really there anymore, while the same while we can be anywhere on the world without moving anymore. And just about anyone has access to our photos, our memories, our intimate moments, no matter where they live. And they can do with them what ever they please. Memories and identities can be stolen, to they extent that they are even being sold by big corporations. The Internet is full of inspiration. It is made up of wonderful images, beautiful images, intimate images, grotesque images, disturbing images and trivial images. And lots of cats. Over the past 8 weeks I investigated certain properties of images on the web and made a collection of 7 books. The first one analyses different aspects of images on the internet, the other six are visual and photographic interpreatiations and collections consisting of images I either made myself, downloaded or stole from iphones, ipads, imacs and of course the Internet.
72dpi is the first book of the series and theoreatically investigates certain properties and aspects of images on the web, but reaches much further than that, all visual executions are based on it. Apart from anaylising properties like the web s quantity, image flood, speed, how our perception is changing, a new culture is forming and each individual s life is changing it also includes very interesting interviews with professionals I found best suited for the topic and had valuable insights.
The borders between amateur and professional photographers are slowly changing. Cameras cost near to nothing today. Everyone has a camera integrated into their phones and is constantly walking around with it. In the past, after a photo was taken, photographers had their specific techniques to chemically process these photos to increase certain properties of the photo. Today there are apps to do this with a few clicks. Both these aspects allow amateurs to use equipment and techniques which come very close to those of professionals. They also help them develop a better eye for taking photos. By constantly carrying around a camera they are being made aware of their surroundings while postproduction apps let them become more sensitive for certain details and visual styles. After they are done with a photo they can upload their photo with a few clicks to the web where it is exposed to a worldwide audience. The web is allowing an active democratization of art and images. Everyone has the same opportunities. This is slowly changing the border between professionals and amateurs. This project investigates the gap between the two. It consists of three fashion series which portray different collections by the Berlin-based designer Franzius. The circumstances as they would be at a typical professional photo shoot are kept the same; unusual location, great model and designer, while I only used the tools that an amateur has access to. No special lights and only the camera of my iphone and the postproduction techniques of Instagram. To an extent the photos show that the quality of a photo is not only limited to the equipment one uses, there are more important factors which come into play. Anyone can take semi-decent looking photos even if it s only with their phone, what really matters is the perspective, idea and story one wants to tell.
Our world is slowly but surely being copied onto the web. Thanks to webcams, satellites and companies like Google more and more of our real world is photographically captured and recorded. This goes as far as being able to see one s own car on Google Earth. Little by little, the web is building a virtual world which is a direct copy of our world. We have access to technology today that only spies had in the past. This allows us to see places that we weren t able to see before. With a few clicks we can be wherever we want to be on the planet. May it be somewhere in the jungles of South America, the icy lands of Antarctica or the sunny Gold Coast. Out of many discussions I have learned that most people, before they go on vacation first have a look at the hotel they will stay in as well as its surroundings by using Google Streetview and other image sources on the web. We can be wherever we want, whenever we want to be. Today we can go on holiday and visit foreign countries without moving away from our seat in front of our computer screen. We can see and experience new countries and cities just by browsing through Streeview. Of course, intimate moments with family and friends cannot be captured this way, but everything else can. This photo series is entirely made up out of screenshots taken from Google Streetview and webcams that I had access to. These two kinds of recording devices were used because up until now they are the two forms which best represent our immediate real world. Street-view lets you move freely through the world while webcams offer the experience of the present moment at a certain location. As my holiday destination I decided to travel to the island of Mallorca. Mallorca is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe and is the fine mix between cliché holiday destination and idyllic paradise. I have been to Mallorca once before, this time however I wanted to experience it in the virtual world. I spent one week travelling all around the island. Over this week I got to see the city and streets of Palma, beautiful sunsets, amazing ocean views, big flower fields, as well as of course all the main tourist attractions. And a rainbow. Even though travelling on the web will not offer the same benefit that actual travelling does, one can still see just about as much of a place as in real life. It is not necessary to take photos of one s vacation anymore. There will be better photos on the web.
We love taking pictures of ourselves. Whereas portraits were once only reserved for a limited few which consisted of the wealthy and famous, cheap cameras, smartphones and webcams allow everyone today to take photos of themselves. On the web there is a strong pressure to portray oneself. Social platforms require a user to take a photo of themselves, this profile picture is the direct business card to one s virtual self. On these photos, people actively try to bring across certain aspects of their personality and self-image. This series inspects where this need for portrayal actually starts. It goes all the way back; even before actually owning a camera, people like to take photos of themselves. I went to different electronic stores that sold smartphones, tablets and laptops. After a few moments I realized that one of the first things potential customers do while inspecting these devices was to take photos of themselves. They did not only check how good the actual device is, but how it made them look. After the potential customers were done taking photos, they immediately forgot about them, leaving the photos on the camera for everyone else to see who came after them. They did not care what happened with these photos or who else could see them afterwards. Via Usb-sticks and by creating internet hotspots with my iphone I gathered over 300 of these self-impressions and directly loaded them onto the web. While investigating these photos, one can see that they are often very personal to the extent that one actually forgets that these people are in a public electronic store, with only small hints in the background. The people focus so much on how they look and what they do in front of the camera that they forget their surroundings.
On the web we never see the original image. Instead, we are always exposed to a minute version of it, the thumbnail. When we search for an image, there will always be thousands of results for the same thing or subject. That s why we are presented an overview of all these images and not only a single photo. In this overview we are presented a tiny version of the original image. The actual image is reduced to a few pixels, even the original dimensions of the image are often changed. Whereas images usually work in a specific frame, meaning they have a certain context, these contexts are taken away in their new size and location. They have to work without context, they are lined up between countless others and with a sweeping view we cross dozens of these tiny images in a few seconds. Thumbnails is a collection of these images found on the web. By thumbnails being reduced to stamp size, the entire meaning or story of the original image changes, as well as the aesthetics of the image. The moment that is captured, the story that is told on a photograph, is barely visible on such a reduced size as it loses a lot of its quality and details and can quickly be misinterpreted or rather gain new interpretations. To a certain extent one needs to come up with one s own story, one needs to closely examine the picture and try to figure out what is actually shown on the thumbnail. Thumbnails are completely new pictures which differ from their original ones. By taking them out of this vast stream of images and focus all the attention on one specific one at a time, it receives meaning and value which were not present before in this big image stream and shows how little attention we actually pay all these tiny images while browsing the web.
With the growing production of images today the quality of images is increasing. But it is also going into a different direction. These are the leftovers. The images that didn t pass the standard, the residue. Next to huge amounts of wonderful images on the Internet there is an even bigger pile of garbage. The absurd, the vulgar, the trivial, the disturbing and inexplicable. Anyone can use the web for whatever reasons they want to because the web isn t concerned with neither content nor value. Anyone can use it for their personal interests, no matter if they are good or bad, big or small, mundane or important. Unbiased, all kinds of images are being transferred. Without the web it would have never been possible, or this easy, to find images of these characteristics. Images like these have never been seen before in previous media and are only possible thanks to the massive rise in amateur photography. No matter how unconventional the situation or person, it can all be captured and published to a world wide audience today and is not kept locked away somewhere anymore. This is a collection of images found in the back corners of the Internet, the mistakes and inexplicable.
Thank you for taking your time and helping me with my project! max