This article is compiled from a discussion between CAP founder, Philip Dean along with Yrjö Tuunanen and photography students Anu Pitkänen and Juhani Haaparinne.
Originally CAP was set up to investigate whether digital imaging techniques could be used within photography. It didn't take too long before the original questions had been resolved. With rapid development in both computer software and hardware we soon became convinced that computers would have an ever increasing role to play within photography and visual communications in general.
Students and staff of the department of photography started work on a project dealing with interactive methods within documentary photography, later to be termed the 'extended documentary'. Based on this work two students, Yrjö Tuunanen and Henrik Duncker, began their 'Hay on the Highway' project, their joint final degree work which was later to win the European Photography Award 1993. Yrjö and Henrik were both students on the first CAP courses held in the department and later became research assistants within the lab.
Hay on the Highway was produced technically without the use of computers. The project was termed 'interactive' but the interactive methods studied and developed by Tuunanen and Duncker were based on collaboration between photographer and subject rather than on the current meaning of the term within interactive media. Yrjö Tuunan en's latest project deals with the generation born 30 years ago. Along with Petteri BŸlow, Pessi Rautio and Lasse Saarinen, Tuunanen is attempting to apply the characteristics of computer imaging - for example, interactivity and the use of several media - in building the themes, working methods and viewpoints for the work.
The same three characteristics are also crucial elements in the continuing development of future projects in CAP. Yrjö Tuunanen is now responsible for developing those projects and for organizing CAP courses as a part-time teacher within the Media Lab. Starting September the scanning and output services of CAP will be the work of Jon Nykänen, the Media Lab's new 'sivari'.
Anu Pitkänen started her photography studies in 1988 and was also one of the first CAP students. Anu has a varied academic background which includes one year in the theater academy studying dramaturgy. Her final degree work is a story told in comic book s tyle but utilizing digital photographic methods to build the images and combine graphic elements. The story could imaginably be adapted as a film script but with the help of CAP's technology she has the possibility to complete the project with a somewhat smaller budget. The story develops from frame to frame. The actors have been photographed in the studio but all the scenography is achieved within the computer. Anu was quick to notice that the photo realistic images encouraged the viewer to scrutinize th e images too closely. A successful comic book relies on a certain amount of estrangement between the images and world of the reader. The answer to the problem was to use the electronic tools to produce a more painterly effect. Anu's work loans from many traditions in storytelling. The possibility to loan from other doctrines is one of the great advantages of digital media. Anu is quick to point out that she has no reservations about this; film makers, for instance, have always loaned from visual traditions.
Juhani Haaparinne came to UIAH in 1989 after having studied graphic design in Rovaniemi. As a student in the department of photography he was an early student in CAP and one of the first to admit that he would devote himself to the use of the digital image in his work. In 1993 Juhani was given the possibility to take part in a major CD ROM project which is being organized jointly by UIAH and the University of Joensuu. Working along with three researchers from that eastern outpost of Finnish academia Juhani is now responsible for design of the visual interface of the HyperKalevala CD ROM - its look and feel. The project relies on the massive research into the Kalevala epic which has been made in Joensuu. The aim of the project is to be able to present that material in a form which can be made use of in education or for use in the home computer. Juhani's role as visualizer makes full use of his skills as a sensitive photographer and graphic designer within a strict technical framework. Due to the distance between the two universities most communication between the work group members occurs via phone or email. Pictures are sent for comment and approval on a regular basis using standard Internet programs.
During the autumn the final degree work of photography student Leo Vossi will be exhibited in the Media Lab foyer. The project is best described as a form of digital cave painting which attempts t o reveal the disturbing nature of Shakespeare's classic tale.