The Ontology of the 21st Century Photographic Print: The Veracity of the Negative vs. the Mutable Digital Inscription File

This brief examines the ontological shift in photography caused by the transition from the absolute qualities inherent in a tangible film negative to the mutable digital RAW image file born from the womb of the digital photography revolution. Though the film negative and RAW image file, in general, serve as a causal history of the exposed subject, their ontological paths diverge markedly: traditional chemical development of the registered subject yields a film negative whose foundational architectural features remain absolute. In contrast, the digital format allows for the eDortless generation of endless, mutable clone variants from a single RAW image file. That is, the digital photographic "register" (Wilson 2021)1 can be manipulated to alter the inscribed features of the exposed subject. This modern-day capacity to infinitely rearrange and engineer foundational characteristics inscribed on a register alters the ontology of the photographic print, shifting the medium away from the structural veracity associated with the negative toward the boundless realm of traditional graphic illustration.