Is Photography Dying???!!!
I spoke to the Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers club on Tuesday night of this week, We had a good crown of great folks, I’m guessing the average age was 70. A big discussion came up about what is happening to photography today. When I got home I found this video on Youtube, take a few minutes t watch out and then let’s talk about this!
- Popularity and quality of smart phone cameras has killed point and shoot camera sales and affected serious cameras sales as well
Let’s review his main points:
2. Because cameras have gotten so advanced there is less reason to upgrade, it is a series of vanishing returns.
3. Declining interest in photography.
4. Increased number of camera users vs photographers.
5. Social media has replaced print, publications are dying.
6. Photography has moved away from art and story telling to
all about me, me, me, my daily life, where I go, what I eat, my friends and pets.
7. Photography has become stagnant. While all other forms of art change from decade to decade, photography has essentially remained the same, same subjects, same techniques.
8. (my thought) Why not change Candid street photography, to, Relational photography, meet people, find out about them and then with their permission, photograph them! Develop personal relationships with your subjects???!!!
Can our smartphone / snapshots world be returned to a craft?
Yes, but it’s up to us!
Get out there and shoot, practice, practice, practice apply ; Shutter Therapy
Encourage young people to join in on our fun!!!!!!
Blessings.
the pilgrim
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 30th, 2019 at 3:38 pm
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Makes me very happy to see you and Jim working together again!!
I love seeing that great list of His Light Workshops!
Yes, he is a great friend wonderful instructor! I’m looking forward to doing some new locations
And focus!
Great list! Best of luck with your workshops!!
Thanks Joshua!
There’s a great deal of truth to this and some of it quite sad. But photography isn’t dead but evolving. Tony Sweet has taken some marvelous iPhone and iPad shots. True, casual users have moved from point and shoots to cell phone cameras but the quality of cell phone images has improved significantly and the users are able to instantly post and share which is an evolution from getting prints at Walgreen’s. Prosumer cameras have gone about as far as they can go, so to speak, and so the market has slowed but Tom Mangelson’s iconic shot at Brooks Falls isn’t being taken anytime soon with an iPhone.
I think our challenge is to get younger people to see that their cell phones are the port of entry to the world of photography and that they may wish to evolve to photography as art.
Back in 2003 I stood with Don Nelson and Michael Reichmann at Grandfather Mountain. I demonstrated the capabilities and possibilities of digital photography to a room of 169 skeptics while Michael flatly pronounced the death of film. He was instantly labeled and somwhat vilified as some kind of heretic.
Three years later almost all of the naysayers were shooting digital.
I agree it’s on us to get more young folks involved!