Abstract:
“We developed the world's first consumer digital camera but we could not get approval to launch or sell it because of fear of the effects on the film market... a huge opportunity missed.”1 These are the words of Kodak vice president Don Strickland in 1993. Today, over 20 years later the fear of digital cameras has disappeared. What is more, they are integrated in many devices of everyday life and it is the most popular mechanism to represent reality. But what constitutes reality in the digital world? Many theorists have argued that digital images pose a threat in our appreciation of reality due to the ease of photographic manipulations through computer software. So, why do we consider that photography itself is truthful and authentic evidence of the observable world? This thesis explores the relationship between digital photography and the conception of reality. The first part addresses recent discussions of the matter through publications from a variety of fields. It offers the foundation for the analysis of four Latin American photographic works. Brazilian photographer Barbara Wagner’s and Mexican photographer Daniela Rossell´s projects are discussed in the second part of this research. The works of Peruvian collective Mírame Lima and Argentinian photographer Marcos Lopez are reviewed in a third part. Wagner’s and Rossell´s photographs examine the differences between the rich and the poor in Mexico and Brazil respectively. How are those issues related to the relationship between digital photography and the conception of reality? In the last part of this thesis, how Mírame Lima´s and Marcos Lopez´s photographs ask questions in relation to Latin American identity in regards to the local and global discourse, is discussed. In conclusion, this thesis illustrates how the conception of reality is transformed with the advent of digital photography not only in technological means but also in social and cultural terms. This thesis hopes to open up discussions toward the social implications of our network society into the field of art history. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary in order to make the most of available resources, improving the state of the actual studies of the topic in art history.
