Reproduction And Copy Essay

Issues of Reproduction and the Copy
Throughout history technology has been a force behind some of the changes of our culture, this can be seen in the ways we travel, communicate and the easy replication of products to produce numerous copies. In the case of this essay the reproduction of images is the main focus. We live in a time in which the ability to replicate images has become a natural part of society, through the use of technologies such as the camera. In terms of visual culture, from the view of Marxist theory, reproduction is a means of describing the ways cultural practices and methods of expression reproduce the ideologies and interests of the ruling class. It was in 1839 that the first photograph was taken, due to the efforts of French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce he was able to take a permanent picture, taking approximately eight hours to occur. Niepce, with the help of Louis Daguerre, was able to create a silver compound, which when placed in a camera obscura box, left a permanent image. While Niepce’s methods in the present day are considered primitive, it marked a shift in human advancement in the early stages of reproduction. While reproduction has become a staple for businesses to profit, it has reached a point were reproduction and the copy have become a means of affecting the quality of an image. The criteria of an image includes; authenticity, politics of reproduction, and ownership.
We live in a time in which you can just go to your local store and expect to find the copy of a product, whether this includes the latest book or movie. With the advancement of technology, the ability to reproduce millions of copies of a product has become a standard to expect; after all, we have huge retailers like Wal-Mart being able to sell these copies all over the world.   But when there are numerous amounts of the same copy produced, one could wonder which of these copies is officially the original image. As stated by theorist Walter Benjamin, with all...