Analyzing the impact of digital photography on contemporary perception based on the theoretical debate between Walter Benjamin and Jean Baudrillard

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student in Art Research, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Art, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Art Research Department, Science and Research Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/scart.2026.144552.1802

Abstract

This research analyzes the theoretical opposition between Walter Benjamin and Jean Baudrillard in the field of photography and attempts to show how photography, in the context of new technologies of image reproduction, has become an arena for rethinking the concept of reality and authenticity. The main question is how can the opposition between the concept of “halo decay” in Walter Benjamin’s thought and the idea of ​​“simulation” in Jean Baudrillard’s theory be reinterpreted in the context of digital photography and developments resulting from artificial intelligence and used to redefine contemporary artistic experience and perception?
The aim of the research is to analyze the impact of developments in digital photography on the experience of contemporary perception by focusing on the conceptual opposition between Benjamin’s halo decay and Baudrillard’s simulation, and attempts to examine the possibility of redefining aesthetic experience in the space of digital image production through the “dynamic half-halo” model. The research method is qualitative and comparative and has been conducted at two levels: 1) Comparative analysis of the classic texts of Benjamin and Baudrillard, 2) Visual semiotics using NVivo software on more than 150 visual samples including works by Cindy Sherman, Shirin Neshat, and Midjourney outputs. The findings show that the halo in the digital age has transformed from a degraded state to a fluid and invisible quality and is intertwined with Baudrillardian simulation. The proposed model of the “dynamic semi-halo” redefines the artistic experience as an interactive synergy of man and machine that is formed not in the complete absence of the halo, but in the dynamic process of recreating meaning.

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