The Double-Edged Sword Of Digital Imaging
In this essay I will explore some questions behind the nature of analog and digital media and how it relates to our sensorial nature.
“For a long time, many people have thought, ‘Well, film has this S-curve kind of thing, it must be some sort of limitation of the photochemical process’. It isn’t. It was designed into the photochemical process. Eastman Kodak for years actually hired more psychologists than chemists for a period of time. They would go around and research this, about what people like; and all of these S-curves with rolling off of the highlights and shadows was purposefully built into the product.”
– Joshua Pines, colour scientist
The Pursuit Of A Certain Type Of Warmth
We often appreciate how an image looks on film or how an analog recording of a song sounds, describing this sensation as “warmth.” This brief yet powerful term conveys much about the nature of memory, analog and digital media, and the experience of reproduction. While digital signal processing allows for infinite, non-destructive transformation of data, many viewers find it lifeless and unmoving.
I believe most people prefer a veiled reality over an accurate representation of the original phenomenon. Analog media—whether audio, film, or stills—charm us by providing a protective layer between us and the original event. Characteristics such as tape hiss, visual grain, vinyl crackle, dust on film, tape headroom compression, highlight roll-off, audio frequency non-linearities, and color skews reveal the similarities across analog mediums.
These features are inherent shortcomings of the analog medium. However, they play a significant role in creating that elusive sense of “warmth,” a quality that eludes precise description and is often used casually as a quick label.
The medium massages us
The media is the message
If all we have are memories and the recorded etchings of those memories, the recording medium becomes an active agent in reliving the original event. The aforementioned sense of warmth serves as a veil, protecting us from what might otherwise be perceived as a “boring” image. Uninteresting images can become compelling through the presence of this analog “warmth.”
William Eggleston’s work exemplifies this. His 5×7 large format direct contact prints are stunning, even though his subjects often were not. The medium can evoke memory as much as the message it contains. Walter Benjamin’s words come to mind when he suggests that the medium massages the spectator.
High Fidelity Sounds
The technicalities of sound reproduction
The term “high fidelity” in music reproduction describes the desire to be immersed in a sensory experience as close to the musician’s or studio’s intent as possible. The commercial incentive is clear: a better-sounding system is one that doesn’t modify the original sound.
While the direct output of a microphone is just a low voltage facsimile of the real thing, an analog or digital picture is more abstract. Consider a film negative or a raw digital file—an orange-tinted inverted image or a matrix of numbers. This information needs to be transformed to look real, while sound just needs to be amplified. Positive film can be excluded from this comparison.
This raises the question of whether the faithful reproduction of color relies more on processing than on the inherent virtues of the capture hardware.
High Fidelity Images
The technicalities of image reproduction
In the days of analog film, some products were marketed with terms like “Reala.” This film contained a fourth color layer that promised better compatibility with fluorescent lights and a more realistic-looking image. Kodak, for instance, claimed that their new emulsion could “photograph the details of a dark horse in low light.”
These marketing strategies aimed to differentiate products by emphasizing fidelity, much like the audio industry had done before.
Digital capture and editing brought about the possibility for endless non-destructive manipulation. Closer-to-reality reproduction became attainable, but this virtue was never advertised with the same vigor as the inherently flawed, moving target of chemical processes.
In the digital realm, we have Canon’s Faithful color profile and many “Natural” profiles by other manufacturers, but the concept of high-fidelity imagery was never widely promoted. One exception is Hasselblad with their Natural Colour Solution (HNCS).
Monitors, on the other hand, emphasize faithful color reproduction. Technical measurement results are made public to appeal to professionals who need to trust their color accuracy.
The need for realistic looking images
Different cameras can look the same in post
Camera brands offer different looks in their models to attract photographers who want to see the world in a specific way. While this is true for in-camera processing, RAW files allow for extensive manipulation of the original signal.
In-camera color processing and digital “developers” each have a specific look. Out of the box, no JPEG file straight from the camera or RAW file with default settings is colorimetrically accurate. Some come closer than others, but generally, brands still shy away from removing that layer of “warmth.”
Colorimetrically accurate images can be boring, but the same image can be improved in post-production, much like Kodak’s S curve. Professional photographers need assurance and predictability in a product that removes the look of a camera sensor in the imaging pipeline.
Alchemy Color Calibrations stems from this concept that the tools in raw image editing should work on a realistic baseline rather than a pre-cooked image that seems finished with one click.
