The Speculative Camera
Ariel Caine, Asko Lehmuskallio, Rune Saugmann Andersen, Yanai Toister
What if we focused on different camera constellations in order to understand the future and history of photographies, instead of focusing on specific (photographic) representations? This turn towards the camera would not only take into account the kinds of devices commonly exhibited and listed as cameras, but would include the alternative forms and methods of measurement and electromagnetic sensing: sentient and non-sentient, historical and contemporary which are involved in developing our techno-visual imaginaries. The speculative camera project explicitly addresses the camera as an assemblage that includes not only particular photographic devices, but also a range of other techniques, technologies, and ways of being which form a backdrop for photographies. Four case studies focus on the relationships between photographies and: A. Navigational abilities practised by members of the animal kingdom; B. Human wayfinding, seafaring, and astronomy; C. Time of Flight systems and D. Computer vision practices of visual objectification, inference, and discrimination.
