Digital Realism

Abstract

In this chapter, I acknowledge that a study of the digital image would not be complete without a discussion of realism. The widespread concern about whether to trust digital images is tied up, for many art and media theorists, with particular accounts of realism (e.g., Rodowick 2007). The notion of realism is a complex one, and this chapter provides some important theoretical background on one central kind; namely, the kind had by traditional photographs. This prepares the way for a discussion of digital “photorealism” as it is derived from traditional “photographic realism.” Through an analysis of “live-action animated” films, I develop an account of photorealism and its effect on the viewer’s experience of the composite—i.e., part recorded, part computer-generated—shot.