ITAP Lecture 4 Connectivity
Principle 1 – Notions of
Originality
When I first heard this
principle I didn’t like it and thought it couldn’t possibly be true, were nun
of my photographs original. I think during the lecture the moon landings were mentioned,
but I wasn’t really listening, I was to busy thinking of photographs that had
to be original.
I found myself getting
confused with the meanings of uniqueness, originality,
and authenticity and not sure if I believe the statement “nothing is original”
Dictionary Definitions
Unique Being
the only existing one of its type or, more generally, unusual or special in
some way
Originality The quality of being special
and interesting and not the same as anything or anyone else
Authenticity The
quality of being real or true
By the nature of photographs
and paintings each can be unique, by virtue of the moment in time that is
captured, settings or brushes / paints used, but outside of this context they may
not be original. If you are sticking a flag into a new country or a new planet
the event will be historical but the recording of the image is not original.
There’s 500 odd years
between Columbus landing on the Americas
I dislike negative
absolutes, but have come to realise that the events that could disprove the
statement of originality might just be beyond my own capabilities. The flag on
the moon might not have been original but the picture of the earth from Apollo
8 by William Anders in 1968, was and massively
change our perspective of planet earth. Earthrise was a product of
technological advancement, technologies are expanding exponentially and must
lead to truly original images.
As I don’t
see myself at the frontier of these advancements, I best start looking for
inspiration from what has gone before. It’s an interesting dynamic by looking
for my future in the past it changes my perception of it.
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