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Navigating Rapid Change: Understanding Technology's Impact on Architectural Photography

Navigating Rapid Change

This lecture examines how architectural photography evolves with the rise of internet media, social platforms, and AI. It explores how these technologies influence the field and challenge its connection to reality.
I want to show through this lecture why architectural photography still matters as it captures real spaces in a human way. For architects and photographers, it’s a reminder that images can create deep emotions, even in a world driven by AI and viral trends.

  • The Networked Image: This chapter delves into the transformation of architectural photography, tracing its journey from early analog techniques to the complexities of the digital era. It explores how technological advancements have reshaped the field, introducing concepts such as networked images, indexicality (the connection between an image and the reality it represents), and polysemy (the multiple interpretations a single image can evoke).

  • Social Media and AI: This section examines the profound influence of social media platforms and artificial intelligence on architectural photography. It discusses how these technologies have revolutionized the way images are created, consumed, and distributed. Furthermore, it reflects on their role in shaping contemporary photographic trends and practices, highlighting both opportunities and challenges.

  • The Importance of Architectural Photography: The final chapter underscores the enduring relevance of architectural photography in preserving authentic representations of built environments. It emphasizes the importance of creating images that resonate emotionally and remain grounded in reality, even in an age dominated by AI-generated visuals and ephemeral social media trends.

A- The Networked Image

The Networked Image

I- The Evolution of access to Architectural Photography through different photographic technologies

I-The Evolution of Access to Architectural Photography

This lecture does not center on advancements in digital cameras or their impact on architectural photography. Instead, it examines semiotics and information theory, exploring how shifts in viewing technologies—such as the transition from print to screen—are reshaping both the way we experience images and the way photographers respond to these evolving mediums.

1. Early Era: Limited Exposure (Pre-1960s)

Architectural photography was primarily showcased in magazines, often in black and white, alongside hand-painted illustrations. Notable characteristics included:

  • Predominantly artificially lit scenes

  • Limited circulation through monographs and books

  • Restricted audience, with photography seen by few

The experience of viewing photography is shaped by human curation, guiding perception and meaning

A. H. Folsom, Bedroom, Lyman Estate, Waltham, MA, 1884. Courtesy of Historic New England..

A. H. Folsom, Bedroom, Lyman Estate, Waltham, MA, 1884. Courtesy of Historic New England.

2. Color Revolution: Technical Challenges (1960s-1980s)

The introduction of color photography brought new challenges, as the entire image had to be created in-camera in a single exposure:

  • Balancing different light sources (flash, tungsten, outdoor light)

  • Innovative in-camera techniques to mix exposures

  • Continued prominence in books and magazines

  • Emergence of photographic exhibitions, though commercial photography was largely excluded from art spaces

3. Print Technology Advancements: Expanding Horizons (1980s-2010s)

New printing technologies transformed the presentation of architectural photography:

  • Dramatic increase in print sizes, enabling museum-scale displays

  • Large medium format cameras captured intricate details and colors

  • Redefined viewer-space relationship through immersive gallery experiences (e.g., Andreas Gursky's works)

  • Broader dissemination through magazines, books, art galleries, and museums

  • Increased accessibility across social classes

99 Cent (1999) by Andreas Gursky on view in a gallery

4. Digital Era: Enhanced Realism (2010-2020)

Digital photography introduced new capturing techniques:

  • HDR and "flambient" (flash + ambient) methods

  • Improved detail retention and color consistency

  • Interior lighting conditions more accurately preserved

  • Closer representation of human visual perception

  • Ubiquitous presence of architectural photography

II- Photography, Photographers, and Meaning

II-Photography, Photographers, and Meaning

1. Article in "Photography in India" - 2018

From that point onward, things grew significantly more complex, as the experience of viewing photography became increasingly shaped not only by human curation but also by algorithms, which now select and present images based on data-driven patterns and personalized preferences.

2. Key concepts

Networked Image:

A networked image is a digital image that exists in an interconnected online environment. Key characteristics include:

  1. Multiplicity - It exists in multiple versions across the network simultaneously.

  2. Connectivity - It is linked to other images and data through tags, algorithms, and user interactions.

  3. Fluidity - Its meaning and context shift as it circulates across different platforms.

  4. Algorithmic mediation - Its visibility and distribution are shaped by opaque computational processes.

  5. Paradoxicality - It exists as both an individual instance and part of a larger networked whole.

The networked image challenges traditional notions of photographic meaning, authorship, and fixed interpretation. It exists in a state of constant flux and potential, shaped by the complex dynamics of digital networks and platforms.

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Afghan Girl, Steve McCurry - 1984

This is how I first encountered this image—on the cover of National Geographic. The magazine used to sit on the middle shelf of my bookcase in my bedroom.

Indexicality:

Indexicality in photography refers to the direct connection between a photograph and the real-world subject it captures. Key aspects include:

  1. Trace - The photograph acts as a physical imprint of light reflected from the subject.

  2. Evidence - It provides evidence that the subject existed in front of the camera when the photo was taken.

  3. Distinction - This gives photographs a unique quality compared to other visual media like paintings.

  4. Truth claims - The indexical nature of photos has traditionally been seen as a basis for their perceived truthfulness or accuracy.

  5. Digital applicability - This concept applies to both film and digital photography, as both record light data from the subject.

Indexicality helps explain photography's special relationship to reality and its power as a medium of visual representation and evidence.

Polysemy:

In semiotics, polysemy refers to the capacity of a word, image, or sign to have multiple related meanings or interpretations. Roland Barthes, a key figure in semiotics and poststructuralism, made significant observations about polysemy:

  1. Inherent multiplicity: Barthes argued that all signs, particularly images, are inherently polysemous, containing a "floating chain" of meanings that can never be fully fixed.

  2. Anchorage: To manage this multiplicity, Barthes introduced the concepts of anchorage and relay. Text often anchors an image by narrowing its potential meanings, guiding viewers toward a specific interpretation. .

  3. Reader's active role: In line with poststructuralist thought, Barthes emphasized the active role of the viewer or reader in interpreting signs. Polysemy empowers individuals to choose among multiple meanings based on their cultural and personal context.

  4. Cultural and ideological implications: Barthes noted that polysemy is not neutral; it operates within cultural and ideological frameworks. Dominant ideologies often seek to control polysemy by fixing meanings to serve specific purposes.

  5. Open-endedness: For Barthes, polysemy reflects the instability of meaning in language and images, aligning with poststructuralism's rejection of fixed structures and singular truths.

Complexity and complex systems:
Complexity refers to systems with many interconnected components that exhibit non-linear behavior and are difficult to model or predict. Complex systems, like the internet and networked images, have the following characteristics: many interacting parts, behavior that cannot be fully explained by studying individual components, emergent properties arising from interactions, resistance to reductionist analysis, sensitivity to initial conditions, and the ability to self-organize. The behavior of complex systems is often unpredictable and cannot be fully understood by examining their individual parts in isolation.

 

Self-organization:
Self-organization is the spontaneous formation of coherent patterns or structures within a complex system without external direction.

Key aspects include: occurring through local interactions between components, resulting in global order emerging from initial disorder, often triggered by random fluctuations in the system, creating stable forms of organization, and happening without centralized control. Self-organization leads to the emergence of order and structure at a higher level of the system, arising solely from the interactions of lower-level components without any external guiding force.

 

Emergence:
Emergence refers to the appearance of novel properties or entities in a complex system that cannot be reduced to or predicted from its constituent parts.

Characteristics of emergence include: new macro-level properties arising from micro-level interactions, qualitative difference between emergent phenomena and underlying components, inability to be fully explained by reductionist analysis, often exhibiting self-organization, creating higher levels of complexity in the system, and potentially leading to paradoxical or ineffable qualities. Emergent properties are fundamentally new and unexpected, transcending the properties of the system's individual components.

3-Articles main propositions:

A example of a complex system is an ecosystem, where diverse species interact with one another and their environment in highly interconnected and non-linear ways. These interactions give rise to interdependence, feedback loops, and emergent behaviors that shape the system as a whole. A seemingly small change—such as the introduction or extinction of a single species—can trigger cascading effects throughout the system, leading to unpredictable outcomes like shifts in biodiversity or even ecosystem collapse.


-Emergent Properties
The murmurations of starlings, where thousands of birds move in coordinated patterns without a leader, show how emergent behavior arises from simple local interactions among individuals.

-Self-Organization
Ant colonies showcase self-organization as individual ants follow simple rules to collectively build intricate structures like anthills or bridges, all without centralized control.

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"

Paradoxical nature of the Networked Image:

  1. Simultaneous visibility and invisibility: Networked images are visible on our screens, but the underlying processes and algorithms that govern their distribution and appearance remain invisible to users.

  2. Tangibility and intangibility: Users can interact with digital images on their devices, giving them a sense of tangibility. However, these images exist as intangible data, stored in servers and transmitted across networks.

  3. Rationality and irrationality: The network operates on computational logic and algorithms, which are inherently rational. Yet, to users, the behavior of networked images often appears irrational or unpredictable.

  4. Singularity and multiplicity: A networked image exists both as a singular instance when viewed on a screen and as multiple versions distributed across the network simultaneously. It can be cloned, shared, and modified, existing in various forms concurrently.

  5. Simplicity and complexity: The user interfaces we interact with present networked images in a simple, accessible manner. However, this simplicity masks the immense complexity of the underlying systems, algorithms, and infrastructure that enable the existence and circulation of these images.

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In "The Rhetoric of the Image," Roland Barthes examines how images convey meaning through three distinct layers: the linguistic message, where accompanying text anchors or enhances interpretation; the denotative message, representing the literal content of the image; and the connotative message, which reflects cultural and symbolic associations. Analyzing a Panzani pasta advertisement, he illustrates how these elements work together to construct intentional, ideologically charged meanings. Barthes challenges the idea that images are neutral depictions of reality, arguing instead that they are deliberately encoded with cultural significance to shape perception.

Meaning, all meanings and no meaning

  1. Inherent polysemy: Images are inherently polysemous, containing multiple potential meanings.

  2. Algorithmic curation: On networks, images are curated by opaque algorithms whose functions are often commercial and obscure to users.

  3. Contextual fluidity: The meaning of networked images becomes fluid as they exist alongside countless other images and data points.

  4. Singular vs. infinite meanings: An image has a singular meaning when viewed on a screen, but potentially infinite meanings considering all possible network permutations.

  5. Paradox of meaning: Networked images embody the paradox of being simultaneously meaningful and meaningless. Barthes argued that the meaning of a text is not determined by the author's intentions but by the reader's interpretation, networked images divorce the photographer's original intent from the image's potential meanings as it circulates and is recontextualized.

Erosion of photography's indexical relationship to reality

The digital turn in photography has profoundly disrupted the medium's traditional relationship with reality, leading to what can be described as an evacuation of the truth claim. This shift is characterized by several key factors:

  1. Algorithmic processing: Digital images are the result of complex algorithmic processes rather than direct physical traces of light. This computational intermediary introduces a layer of abstraction between the captured scene and the resulting image.

  2. Malleability of digital images: The ease with which digital images can be manipulated and doctored challenges their credibility as faithful representations of reality. This malleability undermines the notion of photographic truth.

  3. Multiplicity of visual expressions: The latent digital image, existing as raw data, can be expressed in myriad visual forms beyond the traditional photograph. This flexibility further distances the digital image from its referent.

  4. Networked existence: Digital images exist in ever-changing relationships with other data on the internet, constantly being recontextualized and reinterpreted. This fluidity destabilizes fixed meanings and challenges the idea of a singular, authoritative interpretation.

  5. Image as process: The article introduces the concept of the image as a dynamic process rather than a static representation, emphasizing its fluid nature in the digital realm.

Roland Barthes' The Death of the Author argues that an author's intentions do not define the meaning of a text. Instead, meaning comes from the interaction between the text and the reader. This idea, rooted in post-structuralism, challenges fixed truths and emphasizes multiple interpretations. Today, this connects to gender politics, where postmodern ideas question rigid definitions of identity and embrace more fluid, diverse understandings of gender. Politically, it reflects a broader rejection of singular authority and traditional narratives, shaping how we think about power and identity in society.

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Networked Images as Complex Systems:

 

Understanding  networked images through the lens of complex systems theory, offering new frameworks to understand their behavior and meaning:

  1. Self-organization and Emergence in Networked Images:
    Networked images spontaneously form coherent patterns as they circulate online, creating new meanings through associations. This self-organization gives rise to emergent properties that transcend individual images, generating novel aesthetics and interpretations. These emergences offer a way to access and comprehend the otherwise impenetrable complexity of networked images, moving beyond traditional analyses.

  2. Oscillatory Insight into Networked Images:
    Insight into networked images arises from the interplay of opposing concepts: partial and total causality, singular and networked images, local and global contexts, and visible interfaces versus invisible algorithms. This dynamic oscillation captures the paradoxical nature of networked images, which embody both meaning and meaninglessness, singularity and multiplicity. Ultimately, this oscillatory perspective emerges as a higher-order phenomenon, introducing a refined simplicity to network complexity and challenging conventional understandings of photographic meaning.

  3. Non-linear approach: The article advocates for a non-linear approach to understanding networked images, moving beyond simple apophenia (finding patterns in randomness) or complete epiphany (total understanding).

  4. Artistic exploration: The author describes artistic projects that leverage algorithmic processes to reveal emergent properties in networked images, demonstrating how these concepts can be applied creatively.

B- The 20s - Social Media and AIs

I- Image Aggregators and Self-Organization: How Social Media Reshape Photography

Since 2018 (the year I wrote the article), the evolution of image consumption through social media and photo aggregators has profoundly reshaped how we interact with visual content, a transformation further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which cemented scrolling-based platforms as dominant over traditional website browsing .

 

The way we consume images on social media mirrors the self-organizing tendencies of complex systems, much like ecosystems or markets that naturally settle into a state of balance. Algorithms, user behaviors, and platform designs work together to create a structured flow of image consumption, determining what is displayed, how it is presented, and how users engage with it. Social media platforms themselves can be seen as self-organized structures, emerging from the complexity of networked images and finding equilibrium through mechanisms like endless scrolling and personalized feeds.

 

However, this equilibrium often remains superficial, prioritizing immediacy and efficiency over deeper understanding. As a result, while these systems excel at organizing content for rapid consumption, they rarely foster meaningful connections or higher-order insights. This limitation reflects how we currently perceive and interact with networked images: as fleeting, consumable content rather than as tools for reflection or cultural significance.

 

In recent years, the visual language of social media has shifted to prioritize effortless consumption and seamless interaction, reflecting the need to engage users within a frictionless digital environment. This evolution is evident in several emerging trends:

  • Simplified Compositions: Clean and minimal layouts allow images to be quickly understood, catering to the fast-paced nature of scrolling on social media platforms.

  • Reduced Color Palettes: Harmonized and understated color grading enhances visual coherence, ensuring that images are striking yet easy to process on mobile screens.

  • Decreased Image Detail and Simplified Forms: Abstraction and streamlined forms make visuals more legible on smaller devices, emphasizing clarity over intricacy.

  • Recurring Motifs and Patterns: Repetition of familiar themes fosters recognition and continuity, aligning with the rapid, repetitive consumption of content in feeds.

  • Enhanced Perspective and Depth: Subtle emphasis on perspective adds dimension and texture, creating an immersive quality that captures attention without overwhelming the viewer.

These trends are shaped by two primary forces:

  • Technological: Mobile screens now dominate as the primary medium for image consumption, influencing how visuals are designed and presented.

  • Social: Platforms are engineered to prioritize frictionless user experiences, optimizing engagement and encouraging seamless, continuous scrolling.

Three key observations highlight the transformation of visual culture in the social media era:

  • Darwinian Evolution of Images: Images have undergone a process akin to natural selection, where only the "fittest" visuals—those most suited to the demands of the social media ecosystem—survive and thrive.

  • Paradox of Technology and Image Size: Despite significant advancements in capture technologies, the size of experienced images has paradoxically diminished since 2010, adapting to the constraints of mobile screens and fast-paced consumption.

  • Quantity Over Quality: We now live in an era where quantity outweighs quality, with users consuming more images in a single day than previous generations did over weeks or even months.

The endless scrolling experience on social media platforms poses an intriguing question: does this constant stream of images constitute a new form of media, akin to how individual frames in film combine to create motion? This perspective shifts the focus from the significance of individual images to the collective experience of rapid, continuous consumption, where meaning emerges from the flow rather than the singular.

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Information Entropy:

Information is maximized when you’re most surprised about learning about something

https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-concept-of-entropy-quantifies-information-20220906/

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  • Simplified Compositions: Clean, minimal layouts for quick understanding.

  • Reduced Color Palettes: Harmonized colors for visual impact.

  • Decreased Detail: Streamlined forms for clarity on small screens.

  • Recurring Patterns: Familiar motifs for recognition.

  • Enhanced Perspective: Added depth to draw attention.

 

From this big

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to this small

Arguments for Generative Art:

Interdependence and Feedback Loops: Generative art mirrors the dynamics of complex systems, where interconnected elements and feedback loops drive the creative process. Just as ecosystems evolve through interactions, generative art evolves through algorithms that respond to input and produce emergent, unpredictable outcomes.

Emergent Behaviors: Like ecosystems, generative art thrives on emergent behaviors—unexpected patterns or forms that arise from the interaction of simple rules. This quality allows generative art to produce unique, evolving works that go beyond the direct control of the artist, offering a new dimension of creativity.

Unpredictable Outcomes: Generative art embraces unpredictability, much like how small changes in an ecosystem can lead to cascading effects. This unpredictability fosters innovation and exploration, making it a powerful medium for pushing creative boundaries

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A Thousand Kisses Deep - 2015

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The Rhetoric of the Jpeg - 2024

The idea of paradoxes and oscillations of meaning is explored in fields like semiotics, post-structuralism, and deconstruction. These disciplines show that meaning is not fixed but constantly shifts and evolves, often involving contradictions or tensions.

  • Semiotics: In semiotics, meaning is created through the relationships between signs and their context. This process is dynamic and paradoxical—signs give meaning but also allow it to change over time. Meaning is always in motion, shaped by perception, culture, and communication.

  • Post-Structuralism: Thinkers like Derrida and Barthes argue that meaning is never stable. Instead, it shifts between interpretations because words or symbols (signifiers) don’t have a fixed connection to what they represent (the signified). Derrida’s idea of différance shows how meaning is always delayed and changes depending on context, creating a constant tension.

  • Deconstruction: Deconstruction focuses on uncovering contradictions in texts or ideas. Derrida highlights how opposites (like presence/absence) depend on each other but are unstable, causing meaning to oscillate. This reveals how systems of thought are built on paradoxes that both hold them together and challenge them.

These ideas connect to broader discussions, like the fluidity of identity in gender politics or the rejection of universal truths in postmodernism. By embracing paradoxes and shifts in meaning, these approaches challenge traditional ideas of fixed interpretations or absolute truths.

Social Media's Impact on Photography (2020-Now)

Social media platforms transformed photographic practices:

  • Photographers pressured to adopt influencer strategies

  • Algorithm-driven content creation and presentation

  • Engagement metrics prioritized over meaningful exchanges

  • Visual trends rapidly evolve to match platform preferences

  • Micro-dopamine rushes from quick pattern recognition preferred over longer meaning-making processes

  • Originality is not rewarded; an image needs to conform to the ecosystem of social media to survive

Why document architecture when every photo is just looking the same? 🏢📸🙃 #TotallyUnoriginal #VisualCulture

II- The Pace of Disruption Accelerates: AI and the next Paradigm Shift

 It's challenging to analyze and comment on phenomena unfolding before our eyes at such a rapid pace. However, we can observe several emerging trends:

  1. Social media platforms are increasingly populated with AI-created images, videos, and text, potentially leading to a "Dead Internet" phenomenon where authentic human-created content becomes scarce.

  2.  Certain types of photography, particularly those easily replicated by AI (e.g., product photography,fashion), may become obsolete, forcing photographers to flock to the type of photography which won't be affected by AI (Architecture and portraits)

  3. Post-post-post-modern aesthetics emerge: As AI challenges our notions of creativity and originality, we may be witnessing the end of modern aesthetics and the birth of new visual languages and artistic paradigms.

  4. Redefining art: The rise of AI in creative fields is prompting a reevaluation of what constitutes art, blurring the lines between human and machine creativity, and raising questions about authorship and artistic value.

B- The Importance of Architectural Photography

Architectural photography holds a vital role in representing reality, as architects rely on photographers to document and showcase completed structures. The photograph serves as tangible proof of a building’s existence, setting it apart from the realm of AI-generated imagery.

While some architects may explore AI-generated visuals for conceptual portfolios, the essence of architectural photography remains firmly rooted in its connection to the real world. Unlike advertising or fashion photography, which often leans into fantasy, architectural photography strives to bring images closer to reality through careful post-processing.

This approach is particularly significant in today’s digital age, where standing out amidst an overwhelming flood of pixel-perfect images requires creating visuals that evoke authentic emotions and resonate with viewers.

 

Advancements in technology have brought architectural photography closer than ever to replicating human vision. With wider exposure latitude, enhanced color and detail definition, and the integration of 3D visualization through virtual reality, photographers can now create immersive representations of spaces that capture not only their physical attributes but also the emotions they inspire.

 

The ultimate goal of architectural photography is to allow viewers to experience what the photographer has seen, fostering an experiential form of image-making that could be described as "eidetic photography." Over the past decade, this philosophy has driven many photographers to align their work more closely with their personal vision, bridging the gap between perception and representation. By focusing on the sensuous human experience of reality—an experience that, while subjective, remains broadly universal—architectural photographers can craft a timeless vision that transcends technological trends. This approach moves beyond the pursuit of a distinctive photographic "style" and instead emphasizes the emotional and experiential qualities of architectural spaces. In essence, the true significance of architectural photography lies in its ability to capture and convey the reality of built environments. It connects with viewers on a deeply human level by evoking emotions and offering a genuine representation of spaces that resonate beyond mere visuals.

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