The reading discusses the use of photography for both measurement and information gathering, as well as representation and articulation. The text points to how photography was used in an effort to observe the transits of Venus – it uses this example to illustrate how difficult it was to use photography in astrological observation. In the case of the the transits of Venus the variations in the photographic plates made the comparison and controlled measurement of the data very difficult. This exemplifies the relationship between capture and the subject captured: in the process of capturing something the collection tool leave a signature on the stored images. Though technology has changed drastically since people were working to capture the transit of Venus, our device for capture still leaves an imprint on the images that we create. Technology has empowered us with greater control over the process of capture, yet the traces of our craft and of our tools are always left in the scenes we store.
With reference to a typology the reading implies that our typological machine leaves an imprint on the multiples that it captures. When it comes to contemporary photography we can achieve predictable and precise results, but it’s a stretch to say that the images we make are objective – because we make so many choices in the process of capture and curation of multiples.