截圖作為攝影：以維克多．柏根作品《來世》為例

Screenshot as Photography: A Case Study of Victor Burgin’s“Afterlife”

本文針對截圖技術，特別是在電腦螢幕上透過虛擬相機拍攝的截圖行為，探討攝影與截圖的關係。截圖作為數位時代影像捕捉的重要形式，其文化意涵和技術特徵與傳統類比攝影產生多層聯繫，截圖的行為可分為兩種範式：其一為模仿實體相機的拍攝體驗，特徵包含快門音效、靜止瞬間等設定；其二為模仿影像處理過程的相機暗箱範式，著重於對螢幕圖像的複製與再製。
本文以英國藝術家和理論家維克多．柏根（Victor Burgin, 1941-）的系列作品《來世》（Afterlife）為研究案例，該系列包含限量出版藝術家的書《柑橘》（Mandarin）、攝影書及網頁版《來世》，以及展場裝置《年輕的橡樹》（Young Oaks）。作品透過遊戲引擎建構虛擬畫面場景，再以截圖方式進行拍攝，以科幻敘事探索數位技術與記憶之間的關聯，展現虛擬圖像在數位時代的多重意涵。在柏根的藝術創作及攝影論述中，他強調圖像感知是一個複雜的心理過程，著重於外部物理空間和個人精神空間之間的關係，並主張攝影圖像不應僅簡化為光學技術，而應關注圖像如何與個人的記憶和想像結合。《來世》的故事背景設定在人類心智可被科技複製的虛構世界，探討數位技術如何影響個體對記憶的理解與互動，柏根進一步指出，攝影技術中的透視表現並非自然的再現，而是光學與數位技術結合的結果，展現了攝影本質上的非物質性。藉由梳理截圖技術如何延展攝影的概念、引用柏根作品及攝影理論中對精神真實的探討，並分析《來世》系列的創作方法、內容和展示形式，本文討論截圖在數位時代的文化意涵，回應影像製造的多元途徑，進而對應攝影在當代的擴延。

This paper examines the relationship between photography and screenshot technology, particularly by focusing on the act of capturing screenshots through virtual cameras on computer screens. Screenshots, a significant form of image capture in the digital age, possess cultural implications and technical characteristics that establish multiple connections with traditional analogue photography. Unlike analogue photography, which relies on optical mechanisms to capture external reality, screenshot photography operates entirely within digital environments, generating images that are detached from physical referents. Screenshot practices can be categorized into two paradigms: the first mimics the shooting experience of physical cameras, incorporating elements such as shutter sounds and freeze-frame settings, thus simulating the act of taking a photograph; the second follows the paradigm of the camera obscura, emphasizing the copying, reproduction, and reprocessing of screen images. These two approaches illustrate how screenshot technology extends the conceptual boundaries of photography by integrating digital imaging with interactive virtual environments.
To investigate these paradigms, this paper analyzes Afterlife, a series of works by British artist and theorist Victor Burgin. This series comprises several components, including the limited-edition artist’s book mandarin, the photobook and web-based project Afterlife, and the exhibition installation Young Oaks. By employing game engines to construct virtual environments, Burgin generates digital landscapes that are subsequently captured through screenshots. Rather than using a physical camera to document external reality, he engages with a simulated world, demonstrating how contemporary image-making practices challenge and transcend traditional photographic materiality. The Afterlife series employs a science fiction narrative to explore the intersection of digital technology and memory, illustrating the multifaceted significance of virtual images in contemporary culture. Burgin’s artistic and theoretical discourse emphasizes that image perception is a complex psychological process, shaped by the interaction between the external physical environment and individual psychical spaces. He argues that photographic images should not be understood merely as products of optical technology but should instead be examined in relation to processes of memory and imagination. Through the integration of digital tools and visual storytelling, Burgin’s works highlight the role of images as mediators between subjective experience and technological representation, thereby challenging the conventional boundaries of photographic realism.
Afterlife is set in a speculative world where human consciousness can be technologically replicated, thus critically examining how digital advancements influence our perceptions and interactions with memory. As the project demonstrates, digital images are increasingly detached from physical referents, existing instead within algorithmic and simulated spaces. Furthermore, Burgin challenges the conventional notion of perspective in photography, asserting that perspective is not a neutral representation of reality but rather a construct shaped by the integration of optical and digital technologies. While traditional photography has long been associated with Renaissance perspective and objective representation, Burgin’s engagement with virtual environments problematizes these assumptions. His works suggest that what is perceived as photographic realism is, in fact, a visual effect produced by specific technological and cultural frameworks. By simulating the experience of taking photographs within a digital environment, Afterlife underscores how digital photography reconstructs and reinterprets visual perception, revealing the inherent immateriality of the photographic image.
By tracing how screenshot technology extends photographic concepts, referencing Burgin’s theoretical discussions on psychical reality, and analyzing the creative processes, content, and exhibition formats of the Afterlife series, this paper explores the cultural significance of screenshots in the digital age. It addresses the diverse methods of image production and situates screenshot photography within the broader discourse of contemporary photographic practices.