Virtually Invisible: Photography and the Image in the Demotic Space

The image is described by Flusser as being a significant surface. He suggests that it is the process of looking over such a surface that reveals in the image its significance. Through an exploration of practice and the photograph, it is proposed that the digital image is less a fixed surface and more a demotic space, into which the construction of personal narratives occurs. The digital image, disconnected from surface and its indexical subject, is argued to be a virtual representation of a relationship between memory, thought and significance. As Victor Burgin noted, photography contributes to hegemonic common sense and to the process of the general public exchanging meanings. Therefore, this modified understanding of the image, space and surface may usher in a sense in which photography can be described as an actant.