erotavlas
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2009
- Messages
- 156
- Reaction score
- 6
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
Digital photography's pervasiveness in our society has become a double edged sword. On the one hand it has opened up the opportunity for everyone to take photo's with greater ease, in many more circumstances that would have seemed impossible during the film era. It's amazing that you can carry a tiny camera attached to a phone in your pocket, and take a snapshot at any time. It is also cheaper to take photo's (that is if you don't give in to the endless GAS manufacturers expect from consumers)
But no matter how great these benefits are, modern digital technology has turned photographs into just another consumable like everything else in our modern society. And because of this change photography has lost its 'charm' for me, they are no longer special. There are two ways this has happened
1 - We need to take MORE photos!!!
People are trying to capture more and more. Not stopping to think about the scene or what it means. They just need to capture and store away as much as they can on their computer memory., bypassing the need for their minds to even acknowledge the scene they just witnessed. In doing so we are detaching ourselves from that moment, treating the world like it is something not to be admired, but as something that needs to be exploited.
As an example I see it time and time again at the most popular national parks. Thousands of tourists arriving in droves forgetting to admire the beauty and why they came, instead they insist on carrying a camera everywhere they go and focus solely on capturing some images that will sit in their computer memory only to be lost amongst the countless other images and quickly forgotten.
Family photos have followed a similar pattern. At family gatherings everyone is well prepared like the paparazzi to take the latest photo of some impromptu moment. It's almost not enjoyable anymore, like we aren't enjoying the time together, always focused on taking those photos. With so many people carrying their smartphones, it seems redundant and even pointless to participate. Why bother snapping a photo when someone else already did? Just get a copy from them.
2 - You think that's unique?? HA! Look at THIS!!
More amateurs are creating images that rival those of the best professionals. No longer is it possible to create something so unique that can't be recreated by anyone with the motivation, time and money to do so.
People are now trying so hard to distinguish themselves from the rest creating crazier and crazier photos, in the most unusual scenes. No matter how hard people try it is underwhelming at most because just around the corner is someone else who can create something even more unique, beyond what was already done. And the speed at which this is happening is increasing. Consumer electronic equipment of the most sophisticated kind has dropped in price immensely, putting it in the reach of the average person. Enabling them to compete with the best. It almost reminds me of people trying to purchase more expensive cars, bigger homes, expensive clothes just to keep up with or compete with family friends and neighbours. People post away on photo sharing sites, not to share, but to impress. Look at me, the amazingly special and unique photo I created!
Now every time I carry my camera and I think I want to take a photo I always have these thoughts in the back of my head. Am I about to do the exact same thing that I hate to see other people do? Am i just a consumer of photos? Or am I truly taking an image that means something to me? Is this image I am going to take help me to convey some information, emotion or beauty that I want to convey to other people?
Maybe it's not so much digital technology by itself that has changed things so much, I think it has also been the shift to a consumer society that has changed peoples thinking. More isn't always necessarily better. And that applies to intangible things like photos as it does to material possessions.
But no matter how great these benefits are, modern digital technology has turned photographs into just another consumable like everything else in our modern society. And because of this change photography has lost its 'charm' for me, they are no longer special. There are two ways this has happened
1 - We need to take MORE photos!!!
People are trying to capture more and more. Not stopping to think about the scene or what it means. They just need to capture and store away as much as they can on their computer memory., bypassing the need for their minds to even acknowledge the scene they just witnessed. In doing so we are detaching ourselves from that moment, treating the world like it is something not to be admired, but as something that needs to be exploited.
As an example I see it time and time again at the most popular national parks. Thousands of tourists arriving in droves forgetting to admire the beauty and why they came, instead they insist on carrying a camera everywhere they go and focus solely on capturing some images that will sit in their computer memory only to be lost amongst the countless other images and quickly forgotten.
Family photos have followed a similar pattern. At family gatherings everyone is well prepared like the paparazzi to take the latest photo of some impromptu moment. It's almost not enjoyable anymore, like we aren't enjoying the time together, always focused on taking those photos. With so many people carrying their smartphones, it seems redundant and even pointless to participate. Why bother snapping a photo when someone else already did? Just get a copy from them.
2 - You think that's unique?? HA! Look at THIS!!
More amateurs are creating images that rival those of the best professionals. No longer is it possible to create something so unique that can't be recreated by anyone with the motivation, time and money to do so.
People are now trying so hard to distinguish themselves from the rest creating crazier and crazier photos, in the most unusual scenes. No matter how hard people try it is underwhelming at most because just around the corner is someone else who can create something even more unique, beyond what was already done. And the speed at which this is happening is increasing. Consumer electronic equipment of the most sophisticated kind has dropped in price immensely, putting it in the reach of the average person. Enabling them to compete with the best. It almost reminds me of people trying to purchase more expensive cars, bigger homes, expensive clothes just to keep up with or compete with family friends and neighbours. People post away on photo sharing sites, not to share, but to impress. Look at me, the amazingly special and unique photo I created!
Now every time I carry my camera and I think I want to take a photo I always have these thoughts in the back of my head. Am I about to do the exact same thing that I hate to see other people do? Am i just a consumer of photos? Or am I truly taking an image that means something to me? Is this image I am going to take help me to convey some information, emotion or beauty that I want to convey to other people?
Maybe it's not so much digital technology by itself that has changed things so much, I think it has also been the shift to a consumer society that has changed peoples thinking. More isn't always necessarily better. And that applies to intangible things like photos as it does to material possessions.
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