Daniel Lee, czyli hybrydyczność fotografii cyfrowej. Teoria i praktyka

English Title: Daniel Lee or hybridism of digital photography. Theory and practise

In: Rocznik Historii Sztuki, 31 (2006), pp. 269-283

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Translation of abstract (English)

The article deals with the issue of hybrid nature of digital photography, which in a model way meets the criteria presented by Lev Manovich in the context of description of new media. Apart from digital representation, modularity, automation, and variability, its characteristic feature is the possibility to transcode, idiosyncratic inter-mediality. The author depicts the theoretical horizon of the reflections on aesthetic and artistic consequences of the breakthrough caused by digital photography and adoption of new digital technologies in art. Digital photography participates in the formation of modern cyberculture - a new paradigm of media culture resulting from the development of computer technologies. Beside the theoretical ruminations, the author presents the works and ideas of Chinese-born American photographer, Daniel Lee. His works, such as the "Manimals" (1993), "Origin" (1999), "Nightlife" (2001), he treats as a sui generis exemplification of the possibilities offered to the artists by a new, digital devices to create the works representing a totally new approach to the photographic medium. Digital photography is an example of cyberart, which very often refers to the synthophy of art, science and technology. Its hybridism manifest itself in the practices of "cultural (re-)mix" consisting in continuous processing of both visual material within the range of individual work and re-working of photographic tradition. Over twenty-year tradition of this medium reveals that it is a border phenomenon - traditional, analogue photography based on photo-chemical processes is now increasingly often replaced by photographic digital images, which does not mean, however, that the era of post-photography, photography after photography, stands for the end of the art of photography. On the contrary - digital technology becomes a remarkable ally of such artists as Daniel Lee, who in original, creative and unique way create the universe of digital photography as a new medium.