When does a photograph become an image?

[Matt]

Thats the question, what level of manipulation is required to change a photo to an image, and why?

Discuss

 

[Steep]

Again?

 

[Matt]

no you misunderstand, in our previous sorties to this area we havent been specific, what i want to know is what each of us personally consider changes the photo to an image...

 

[petemc]

Given that every photo I take is digitally processed whether by me or my camera, I would say that its a very hard thing to judge. As long as the composition doesn't change, it always will be a photo.

 

[Steep]

Ok then, for me it becomes an image the moment I take it, because thats how I think of it. Not as a photograph but as an image which I may or may not have to work on to get what I want.

 

[Chez]

Or is it an image from the moment it's taken until the moment it's printed...at which point it becomes a photo...?

 

[petemc]

image |?imij| noun a representation of the external form of a person or thing in sculpture, painting, etc. See note at emblem . • a visible impression obtained by a camera, telescope, microscope, or other device, or displayed on a video screen. • an optical appearance or counterpart produced by light or other radiation from an object reflected in a mirror or refracted through a lens.

photograph |?f?t??graf| noun a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused onto film or other light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment.

 

[Chez]

image |?imij| noun a representation of the external form of a person or thing in sculpture, painting, etc. See note at emblem . • a visible impression obtained by a camera, telescope, microscope, or other device, or displayed on a video screen. • an optical appearance or counterpart produced by light or other radiation from an object reflected in a mirror or refracted through a lens.

photograph |?f?t??graf| noun a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused onto film or other light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment.

Just like I said

 

[Matt]

image |?imij| noun a representation of the external form of a person or thing in sculpture, painting, etc. See note at emblem . • a visible impression obtained by a camera, telescope, microscope, or other device, or displayed on a video screen. • an optical appearance or counterpart produced by light or other radiation from an object reflected in a mirror or refracted through a lens.

photograph |?f?t??graf| noun a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused onto film or other light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment.

thats very interesting, so, by definition, we are making images with digital cameras, and making prints when we print them, but not photographs!

 

[Chez]

Surely a sensor is a light-sensitive material and the chemicals used to make it permanent are whatever's in ink and photo paper?

Although the definition probably needs updating to include digital photography!

 

[Steve]

So when does an image become a photograph :wink:

And how come nobody is taking photographs any more? :shock:

 

[Matt]

So when does an image become a photograph :wink:

And how come nobody is taking photographs any more? :shock:

indeed! :?:

 

[Steve]

Although the definition probably needs updating to include digital photography!

Thats probably the main problem here, modern technology interfering with old definitions. Maybe people discussing their own interpretations of an image, print, and photogragh might be the way forward?

 

[MyPix]

just to throw in another spanner,

in the UK we say ' Take a Picture '

in America, they say ' Make a Picture '

hmmm

i say its an image untill the point it is captured , then it is a print ( on paper etc ) . but what is it while its on the screen, lol

MP

 

[Steve]

just to throw in another spanner,


i say its an image untill the point it is captured , then it is a print ( on paper etc ) . but what is it while its on the screen, lol

MP

And to add futher confusion..what is a subject or scene before it is captured???

 

[Chez]

just to throw in another spanner,


i say its an image untill the point it is captured , then it is a print ( on paper etc ) . but what is it while its on the screen, lol

MP

And to add futher confusion..what is a subject or scene before it is captured???

And does it even exist, if no one can see it?? lol

 

[Matt]

hmmmm

Well i think a photo becomes an image when you do something that you didnt intend when you took it, so if you wanted to have 15 people all the same running on the road but only had one, but added them in after, then i dont think thats an Image par se, but if you decide to remove loads of stuff and add loads after you took it then it becomes an image then, do you understand what i mean?

 

[Pook]

If light was focused by a lens and/or aperture to form the predominant subject of the picture, then it's a photograph regardless of whether it's on film, digital, straight or manipulated so far as I'm concerned.