A Fichtean Theory of Artistic Photography

The issue I discuss in this chapter is whether is possible, and, if it is, how, to apply Fichte’s philosophy of image to photography in a meaningful way. What I will argue is that, although Fichte could not see a single photograph, his philosophy of the image can be an useful philosophical tool for understanding the ontological condition of photography as image. More specifically, Fichte’s philosophy of image can work as a conceptual basis through which arguments can be offered for criticizing the traditional theory of photographic image as documntary copy of reality. The theory that can instead make use of Fichte’s Bildtheorie is that of the photographic image as a result of the creativity distributed between photographer, camera and shooting situation.