What Is Glitch Photography?
Have you ever photographed your television screen? Most people haven’t—but artists are drawn to images wherever they exist, including within the technical imperfections of media itself. Glitch photography explores moments when digital or analogue systems fail, producing unexpected visual distortions that reveal the fragility of the image.
My own exploration of glitch photography began almost accidentally. While watching a DVD with friends, the disc skipped, freezing the image into a constellation of fractured pixels. I picked up my camera, and what began as a spontaneous reaction evolved into a photographic series developed over many years. At the time, I was working with slide film, an analogue medium that gave these images an especially strange, otherworldly quality.
A Brief History of Glitch Art
If glitch photography sounds unfamiliar, it is nonetheless firmly rooted in contemporary art history. In 2024, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich hosted an exhibition dedicated to glitch art, framing it as “the art of interference.”
Historically, the term glitch originated in the technical language of radio and television engineers in the 1950s. Over time, it came to describe unexpected programming or graphical errors—particularly within early computer games. In an artistic context, glitches represent moments where technical failure becomes aesthetic opportunity, transforming errors into expressive visual language.
Digital Errors, Analogue Origins
While glitches are often associated with digital malfunction, they are not always the result of software errors. Physical and environmental conditions—such as a scratched DVD, signal interruption, or atmospheric disturbance—can redirect our attention to the vulnerability of technical media itself.
These disruptions foreground instability. Images may fragment into bands, lines, or split frames; sometimes the distortion overtakes the entire image, while in other moments it isolates itself to a single region. The result is unpredictable, fleeting, and impossible to replicate—qualities that align closely with traditional ideas of photographic authenticity.
Glitch Photography in a High-Definition World
As digital technology has advanced, expectations around image quality have intensified. Today’s media environment prioritizes clarity, polish, and seamless delivery. Tolerance for distortion—whether visual or sonic—has sharply declined.
But has this pursuit of perfection resulted in more meaningful images?
For artists, glitches puncture the glossy surface of contemporary media, offering new ways to engage with images that would otherwise remain invisible. Glitch photography transforms commercial broadcast signals, disrupting their original function and detaching them from their intended content. In doing so, it opens space for reinterpretation and critique.
Agency Through Interference
Distorted copies can give artists an unexpected sense of agency. By embracing digital noise rather than correcting it, glitch photography challenges our bias against error. My own glitch images represent an intentional departure from the “perfect signal,” normalizing interference as a legitimate artistic language.
This practice has a documented lineage within contemporary art. Glitch photography preserves moments that would otherwise be discarded, allowing us to question entrenched assumptions about technology, control, and authorship. These images often reveal surprising vibrancy—suggesting that failure, when examined closely, can generate new forms of meaning.
Exploring Glitch Photography as Fine Art
Glitch photography exists at the intersection of photography, digital media, and conceptual art. Each image captures a moment of instability—an interruption that exposes the mechanics behind the image itself.
If you’d like to explore my collection of glitch photographs, I invite you to visit my glitch photography collection. If a piece resonates with you, feel free to reach out through the contact form to inquire about availability or exhibitions.
Behind every brushstroke lies a story of discovery, experimentation, and emotion. My goal is to create works that not only reflect my own artistic journey but also invite you to see your own experiences mirrored within them.
If you’d like to explore more of my work, visit my Gallery or learn about how you can Commission a Painting that captures your own story in colour and texture.