Revolutions that are changing photography
I just got done reading an interesting article on "good enough" http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/17-09/ff_goodenough?currentPage=1
I got to thinking about all the changes for good or ilk that are currently happening in the Photography industry. The odd thing is how many people think what's happening is totally new. Truth is photography is such a new medium that it is breaths a culture of change and trends. The most over whelming change that is currently happening is the Digital "good enough" revolution. Everyone imagines themselves as photographers; now with a cheap digital camera, and easy to use digital editing software almost anyone can be a "good enough" photographer. Now I'm not talking being a real professional photographer, just a better than a Walmart or Kiddie Kandids photographer. This revolution shouldn't surprise anyone who lived through the Digital desktop publishing revolution. In the desktop publishing revolution of the early 1990's cheap software made almost anyone a publisher. It took nearly a decade for people to see the real difference in good design from someone who truly knows how to layout information for publication and Desktop Publishing's "good enough" model. We should expect a similar out come with Photography's Desktop Photography Revolution. Overall It means some Photographers which were only "good enough" at the beginning of digital photography will have to get better or go out of business. The good enough model will take over some areas of product photography just like stock photography took over some areas of assignment photography.
The only reason the gap between skilled amateur and professional photographers is shrinking; has more to do with a failure of professional photographers in raising the bar, than it does with everyone having a digital camera. There has been a "good enough" mentality with many professional photographers that has left the bar too low. too many Professionals feel they only bring technical skills to the table, too many photography schools only teach technical skills. Is is any wonder when better tools that are easier to use come to market, that skilled amateurs become on par with professionals who are only defined by technical skills?
The mixed media revolution is the next area of so called change in photography. This is just a return to the ideals of the pictorialist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There will be niches in the field for this style, but this will not redefine photography. If anything, mixed media will make straight photography more important in the same way that the pictorialist movement did.
Video is another area of change in photography. More videographers are shooting stills and more photographers are doing video. This is a major change in both fields, as neither field truly has had the ability to easily shoot in the other media. Some people are trying to define themselves as only Stills or only video. There maybe some room for single media specialists, but in many areas Photographers and videographers are expected to shoot both. This is most evident in news media where wire services like the AP are wanting or expecting their photographers and videographers to shoot both stills and video. We will have to wait to see what the full effect and what industry demands will play out in this area. I would speculate that the term videographer will go by the wayside and the term photographers will include video services.
We can try to fight these changes, but the best way to fight it is to raise the bar and redefine what it means to be professional.
I got to thinking about all the changes for good or ilk that are currently happening in the Photography industry. The odd thing is how many people think what's happening is totally new. Truth is photography is such a new medium that it is breaths a culture of change and trends. The most over whelming change that is currently happening is the Digital "good enough" revolution. Everyone imagines themselves as photographers; now with a cheap digital camera, and easy to use digital editing software almost anyone can be a "good enough" photographer. Now I'm not talking being a real professional photographer, just a better than a Walmart or Kiddie Kandids photographer. This revolution shouldn't surprise anyone who lived through the Digital desktop publishing revolution. In the desktop publishing revolution of the early 1990's cheap software made almost anyone a publisher. It took nearly a decade for people to see the real difference in good design from someone who truly knows how to layout information for publication and Desktop Publishing's "good enough" model. We should expect a similar out come with Photography's Desktop Photography Revolution. Overall It means some Photographers which were only "good enough" at the beginning of digital photography will have to get better or go out of business. The good enough model will take over some areas of product photography just like stock photography took over some areas of assignment photography.
The only reason the gap between skilled amateur and professional photographers is shrinking; has more to do with a failure of professional photographers in raising the bar, than it does with everyone having a digital camera. There has been a "good enough" mentality with many professional photographers that has left the bar too low. too many Professionals feel they only bring technical skills to the table, too many photography schools only teach technical skills. Is is any wonder when better tools that are easier to use come to market, that skilled amateurs become on par with professionals who are only defined by technical skills?
The mixed media revolution is the next area of so called change in photography. This is just a return to the ideals of the pictorialist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There will be niches in the field for this style, but this will not redefine photography. If anything, mixed media will make straight photography more important in the same way that the pictorialist movement did.
Video is another area of change in photography. More videographers are shooting stills and more photographers are doing video. This is a major change in both fields, as neither field truly has had the ability to easily shoot in the other media. Some people are trying to define themselves as only Stills or only video. There maybe some room for single media specialists, but in many areas Photographers and videographers are expected to shoot both. This is most evident in news media where wire services like the AP are wanting or expecting their photographers and videographers to shoot both stills and video. We will have to wait to see what the full effect and what industry demands will play out in this area. I would speculate that the term videographer will go by the wayside and the term photographers will include video services.
We can try to fight these changes, but the best way to fight it is to raise the bar and redefine what it means to be professional.
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