Paris Photo 2012: The Image After Photography

A dialogue between Dominique Baqué and Régis Durand, published in artpress in October 2012, examines the transformation of photography in the digital age. Baqué argues that photojournalism's paradigm of the 'decisive moment' is obsolete, and 'plasticienne' photography has become historicized, with digital images appearing smooth and interchangeable. She cites the first Iraq War and the destruction of the Twin Towers as turning points where screen-based images replaced photographic testimony, noting the role of camera phones in the Iranian protests and Arab revolutions. Durand observes that still images are often now captures from video streams or surveillance cameras, losing photography's unique tension between presence and absence. He praises the spectral quality of such images, as seen in Dorothée Smith's installation at Le Fresnoy (2012). Both agree that photography's truth value persists in documentary practice, but Baqué warns against naive objectivity, citing Thierry Garrel's concept of documentary as a 'machine à penser'. She highlights contemporary practitioners Allan Sekula, Gilles Saussier, Marc Pataut, Stanley Green, Raymond Depardon, and Guillaume Herbaut. Durand points to Andreas Gursky and Thomas Ruff as exemplars of technology serving critical vision, while Baqué laments the many imitators. The conversation concludes that photography's dual nature—its ability to serve as both medium and critical act—ensures its relevance, even as new image forms proliferate.