RECONTEXTUALIZATION OF ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY IN THEDIGITAL ERA: A HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY PERSPECTIVE

• Main Author: Setya Darmawan, Yurif
• Format: Dissertations
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/87057
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The discourse of dematerialization of photography through digitalization fundamentally changes not only the production, distribution, and aesthetic processes of photography, but also the way photographers interpret everyday photographic experiences. There is ambiguity when there is a revival of analog photography amidst widespread digitalization. The phenomenon of the use of analog photography media technology lies in the retromedia discourse which is generally understood as a phenomenon of "nostalgia", when analog and digital media coexist and are renegotiated. However, the meaning of "nostalgia" is considered insufficient to describe the complexity of analog photography practices in the digital era which are suspected of having more essential aspects related to experience. This study explores ontological transformations in photography, focusing on the interconnection between the subject, technology, and materiality of photography. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach is needed to understand the important meaning that analog photography has in the digital era. From a technological perspective, photography must be examined based on significant changes in the discourse of technology, digitality, networks, platforms, and the ubiquity of photographic images. This approach treats phenomena as interpretive texts, which are analyzed through a dialogical process in a hermeneutic circle. Through the phenomenological-hermeneutic framework, the study reveals that the revival of analog photography is not merely nostalgia, but rather a response to the lack of authenticity and depth in digital photography. The main findings broadly show several important aspects: (1) The ontological understanding of analog photography in the digital era introduces the concept of Ada-photography as a process of the emergence of photographic images involving human and technological performance. (2) The materiality and tactile experience in analog photography provide different dimensions compared to the dematerialization of digital photography. The analog process creates a deeper involvement between the photographer and the object and the medium. (3) This study identifies the existence of ambiguity in the context of authenticity, authority and indexicality, when analog photos are often scanned into digital objects, creating the irony of the private iv domain to the public. This adds to the long debate about the meaning of authenticity in the contemporary context. (4) Manual artistic practices that are process-oriented in limited and imperfect analog photography encourage creativity and experience- based knowledge that will produce subjective satisfaction, in contrast to the instant gratification offered by digital methods. (5) The analog photography community plays an important role in revitalizing the analog photography industry by emphasizing the value of materiality. They not only maintain conventional practices but also encourage innovation and collaboration-based ecosystems, enriching the contemporary art world. This study concludes that the rise of analog photography represents an awareness to seek deeper, more skillful, and richer aesthetic experiences in photography. As the boundaries between digital and analog become increasingly blurred, this study provides an account of the usefulness of the expertise and skills inherent in analog photography, encouraging artists and the wider community to further explore unique forms of expression in an era of rapid technological advancement.