Abstract
This article explores “the play element in photography”, to adapt a key phrase from Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens (1938). The context for this exploration is the melancholic paradigm that dominates much of contemporary writing and thinking about vernacular or popular photography, a paradigm that emphasises memory, death and mourning, at the expense of other practices and dispositions, not least the ludic. It notes that the existing literature on photography and play concentrates almost entirely on humorous images: optical jokes, trick photography, and a wide variety of distorted pictures. But play is an activity, a practice, as much as it is a product or an outcome. In other words, the ludic in photography is not just a quality of the object photographed, but of a photographic doing. Following this principle, the article shows the ways in which key modes of play such as competition, chance, make-believe and vertigo, are at work in photographic practices old and new, including in the aerostatic photography of Félix Nadar, with which it begins and ends.
Key Questions
What is the concept of ludic photography?
Ludic photography refers to the playful, experimental, and interactive approaches to photography, where the act of creating or engaging with photographic images becomes a form of play or game.
How does this study define the role of play in photography?
The study explores how playfulness in photography disrupts traditional norms and conventions, allowing for creative freedom, innovation, and new ways of engaging with visual culture.
What are examples of ludic practices in photography?
Examples include photomontage, collage, deliberate distortions, interactive installations, and the use of photography in social media or virtual environments as a playful medium.
Why is ludic photography significant in contemporary art?
Ludic photography challenges traditional boundaries of photography as a documentary medium, encouraging viewers and creators to rethink its purpose and potential within modern art and society.
How does ludic photography engage with technology?
Ludic photography often leverages digital tools, software, and platforms to create playful, experimental works, showcasing the evolving relationship between technology and artistic expression.
What theoretical frameworks support the study of ludic photography?
The study draws on theories of play, aesthetics, and visual culture to analyze how ludic photography functions as both an artistic practice and a mode of cultural expression.
What implications does ludic photography have for visual culture?
Ludic photography expands the boundaries of visual culture by emphasizing participation, interactivity, and creativity, making it a dynamic force in the evolution of contemporary art.
