The New Paradigm

Preface to the book 'Fragmentation of the Photographic Image in the Digital Age'.

This book is about the formation of a discourse on images that has been waiting in the wings for some time. A wider context for the emergence of this discourse is the crumbling of a system of thought that is called metaphysics. That this linear and historical model of comprehending the world is being replaced by a new paradigm ushered in by a constellation of accelerated developments that can be variously described as ‘algorithmic’, ‘ecological’, ‘new-materialist’, ‘fragmented’ and ‘holistic’ is generally recognized. What is less well understood is how this departure from the representational discourse affects the photographic image. A belief still lingers in the ability of the photograph to represent people, events and situations, in its power to aid recognition, memory, description and archiving, as if these powers can be retained independently from the new discursive practices that are driven by algorithmic, neurological and quantum models.