cascades

Collaborative artistic research project with Jakob Schnetz. One of the most powerful promises of photographic processes since their creation to this day is the indexical, apparent self-recording and the idea of machine objectivity linked to it. Such an assertion of reality is particularly problematic when human bodies are depicted and socio-political as well as epistemic consequences are involved. In her study of the often unconscious cultural and racist technological standardization of colour film in the USA and Japan, Canadian communication scientist Lorna Roth has made it clear that it is not only a question of how technology is formatted, but also for whom. For digital image production, on the other hand, there has been no empirical research to date, even if there are isolated reports of racist bias and critical improvement of current cameras. In order to address this gap, Jakob Schnetz and I conducted such an experiment. The experiment itself and our findings from it serve to pose further specific questions about digital photographic technology, its processes, its evaluation and our concepts and practices.