Photo ambiguity

The mixing of representational modes in handling the medium of Photography has become a prevalent working method in contemporary practice. Renderings that seemingly have pertinence to both the contrived image and the snapshot provoke a particular oscillation in the spectator s mind that is productive of ambiguity. This ambivalence between the realms of this-has-happened and this-could-not-have-happened places the viewer within a mode of perceptual multistability. Giving equal importance to the material condition of a photograph s production (the photo-effectic mode) with that of its aesthetic aspect (the photo-graphic mode), this research utilizes case studies and applies Speech Act theory and Catastrophe theory to enhance our understanding of ambiguity s appearance. Those interested in the fields of Photography theory, Rhetorics and Neuroaesthetics will find in this book interdisciplinary methods upon reading images, while creative practitioners can grasp the import of directorial strategies leading to equivocal imagery.

Autorentext

Vasileios Kantas has studied Electrical Engineering, Critical Theory and Photography. Having being awarded state scholarships, he submitted his PhD thesis in Wimbledon College of Art. His theoretical work has been presented in conferences and his images have been exhibited. He currently lives in London, curating, writing and photographing.