Surface tension: examining the implications of intentional disruption of the photographic surface
Date
2009-04-08T10:35:46Z
Authors
Becker, Johanna Elizabeth
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Abstract
Abstract
This dissertation aims to explore the theoretical and metaphoric implications of intentional
disruptions to the material surface of the photographic print. It will consider how
interferences with the surface of the print alter the end product of the photographic process,
thereby shifting it from the realm of mechanical reproduction associated with photography,
forcing a reconsideration of the photograph as object. This will involve a discussion of
photographic theory concerned with the verisimilitude of the image as well as the common
philosophical understanding that photographs somehow embody a ‘contained’ space. It will
also necessitate a study of notions of the surface, as boundary and as skin, and therefore
the implications of a conceptual association between the image and the body. It is
specifically concerned with embodied action on the surface of the print, exploring different
forms and levels of interference, and considering these processes as bodily encounters with
photographic representation, through the use of theories of fetishism, scarification, and
power.