The technological mediation in the portrait

Abstract

The portrait has been one of the most prolific genres in art since antiquity. From its very outset photography has shown an interest for this format, and it has been responsible for the renewed interest in the portrait in the traditional arts. Now, more than a hundred years on, the development of digital photography has brought about another paradigm shift. While it was known that photography was not immune to various forms of manipulation and trickery, the introduction of new technological media means the montage process has become part of its own ontology, placing these images in the field of fiction. This paper looks at the portrait work of Nancy Burson, Keith Cottingham, Aziz + Cucher, Loretta Lux and Wendy McMurdo, pioneers in the use of digital photography, who, like many other contemporary artists, use genres and formats typical of the traditional arts. The paper examines the construction of images in which the reference is no longer an individual being, but rather a sum of information. The aim of the study is to place their artistic production within a given social, artistic and political context, to identify works that have meant the renewal of the depiction of the human face and body.