Can virtual photography really be considered photography?

Destin · May 28, 2020

To simplify this a little and spark further discussion:

If I take a screenshot on my smart phone, is that photography?

limr · May 28, 2020

I say no.

Derrel · May 28, 2020

Destin said:
To simplify this a little and spark further discussion:

If I take a screenshot on my smart phone, is that photography?

No.

Grandpa Ron · Jun 27, 2020

Not much to thinks about here.

If an artist takes brush to canvas and adds some background, by definition he or she was created a painting.

If a photographer looks through a view finder and snaps the shutter, by definition he of she has taken a photograph.

Neither the painting nor the photograph are defined by what is shown but only by the process used to capture the image. Taking brush to canvas would be defined as art. Capturing photons for the display of an image is called photography.

The merit of what is captured is opinion not process.

Tropicalmemories · Jun 27, 2020

I think there's a large grey area here.

At a practical level - digital cameras are an evolution of photography that does not need film, and virtual images are an evolution of painting that does not need brushes.

But at a philosophical level, if you took a photo of a painting, the result would be a photograph.

And at what point does a heavily post processed, digitally manipulated photo stop being a photograph? Same for video - movies like Avatar have blured the boundary between 'film' an animation.

I posted an image of mine last week in a discussuon about Second Life screenshots being posted in Portrait Groups in Flickr. It was a photo I took, but then heavily manipulated to look like second life. Coming from the other direction, I could scan a photo of my wife, and use it to create an avatar - so has the digital illustration become a photo, and has my photo become an illustration?

Mike Drone · Jun 27, 2020

Photography is capturing light from any source. =]

smoke665 · Jun 28, 2020

Silly humans you're worrying about defining me, while I'm eliminating you. According to this Will Photographers Be Replaced By AI? - Feature Shoot photography and photographers as we know it is being replaced.

407370 · Jun 28, 2020

So I work a lot with creating images made up of elements from the real and virtual worlds.

Is this a photo???

That sunrise photograph was taken by me on Al Wakra beach in Qatar at 4am about 4 years ago. I specifically chose that pic to include in a reflective scene because of the defined red ball of a sun.

The original pic was heavily modified and then included as a texture in a 3D Scene.

When did it stop being a photograph????

These are the settings that are available when using a virtual camera in a 3D Scene:

Grandpa Ron · Jun 28, 2020

I have lost track of the times I have pondered, is it really a photograph or a photographic creation of a non-existent or a heavily modified object?

Over time I realized it simply does not matter. They are all photography and it is impossible to say where photography and photographic art merge. We can say that a 1970 color slide of someone's birthday party is a "as shot" photograph and that a photograph of Mickey Mouse is photographic art. However, there will never be a general consensus of where the two art forms merge.

The reason I feel it does not make a difference is because when we look at a sculpture of a Roman emperor, or an 18th century painting of some Archduke in Europe or an American Indian painted by Russell in the Old West, one rarely asked "Is that what they really looked like or did the artist embellish piece?"

I know what I prefer and just let it go at that.

petrochemist · Jul 22, 2020

407370 said:
So I work a lot with creating images made up of elements from the real and virtual worlds.

Is this a photo???
View attachment 193620

That sunrise photograph was taken by me on Al Wakra beach in Qatar at 4am about 4 years ago. I specifically chose that pic to include in a reflective scene because of the defined red ball of a sun.

The original pic was heavily modified and then included as a texture in a 3D Scene.

When did it stop being a photograph????

These are the settings that are available when using a virtual camera in a 3D Scene:
View attachment 193621

The image of the red sun over the water is a photo, the combined images are digital art, but not a photo.

The question becomes a bit hazier if you take several photos & stitch them together to make a panorama. I'd be happy to call the final panorama a photo, but I suspect some others wouldn't.

Grandpa Ron · Jul 22, 2020

The problem is, trying to compare apples to oranges.

By the scientific definition, "Photography" can be defined by a set of "facts". Traditionally this meant, a method of capturing and image onto a display media by the use of light. So yes, even the digital camera and monitor match this.

However the definition of "Photography" has also evolved to mean the "content" of the image. At this point it can no longer be defined by fact, as it falls into the realm of "opinion". There is no wrong answer to an opinion, only varying degrees of acceptance.

Mike Drone · Jul 22, 2020

The definition of photography: definition of photography : the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor). I believe what you are referring to is considered graphic arts. Computer graphic arts is taught next door to my classroom, they even get degrees for their work! =]

Grandpa Ron · Jul 22, 2020

I certainly would not argue over the semantics of the scientific definition of photography, it changes with the evolution of technology.

However, my point was, defining photography includes acceptance of the fact that not everyone thinks of, or even cares about, graphic art; it a photograph by popular convention. Hence the unfortunate mix of fact and opinion.

407370 · Jul 23, 2020

Grandpa Ron said:
However, my point was, defining photography includes acceptance of the fact that not everyone thinks of, or even cares about, graphic art; it a photograph by popular convention. Hence the unfortunate mix of fact and opinion.

Tis. An image is just an image.....