Analogly Digital
Alicia Chen
In the past, producing a photograph took many steps. Today we just capture an image and share it all over the world. Do we use this ease of producing images wisely, or have we become addicted? Should we be aware of this history or should we just move on? While there is a certain freedom in forgetting, by exploring the history of photography, we may take the time to reflect on how the photograph has come so far, from keepsake to selfie. Our relationship to our images has changed us. When we only spend seconds taking an image and sharing it, how can we treasure them, really look at them? Can we slow down this wave of images? “Analogly Digital” is a book with three different parts, combing the quality of both analog and digital images to recognize the richness of history while also embracing the freedoms of our present technology. The first part of the book explores the history of the photographic image from 1826 to the present, reminding us when we spent more time with each photograph from capturing it, to producing it, to treasuring it. The second part of the book is the exploration of digital manipulation of photography. The third part of the book extracts pages from current magazines to propose a way to slow down the image, to make it more cherished, to make it seen and appreciated for what it can record and help us remember. Using this strategy anyone could grab a pen and create your own book of images.