The mechanical eye and the electronic eye
The photo camera and the associated technology of photo
processing are products of the civilization of literacy in
anticipation of the civilization of illiteracy. The metaphor of
the eye, manifest in the optics of the lens and the mechanics of
the camera, could not entirely support new human perceptions of
reality without the participation of literacy. Camera use
implied the shared background of literacy and literacy-based
space representations. The entire discussion of the possibilities
and limitations of photography-a discussion begun shortly after
the first photographic images were produced, and still going on
in our day-is an exercise in analytical practice.
Some looked at photography as writing with light; others as
mechanical drawing. They doubted whether there was room for
creativity in its use, but never questioned its documentary
quality: shorthand for descriptions difficult, but still
possible, in writing. The wider the framework of practical
experiences involving the camera, the more interesting the
testimony of photography proved. This applies to photography in
journalism and science, as well as in personal and family life.
With photography, images started to substitute for words, and
literacy progressively gave way to imagery in a variety of new
human experiences related to space, movement, and aspects of life
otherwise not visible.
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