Time frame: 1980s-Present
Thesis: Though the introduction of smartphone cameras has empowered people to become their own photographers, it has largely led to the devaluing of memories and social events easily captured by their smartphones.
People are now more inclined to record a concert than see it with their own eyes. The photographing populous—previously wielding only film cameras or large, complex cameras geared toward professionals—enjoyed the ability to capture moments in the 80s and 90s, but never abused the power. However, hiring skilled photographers for special occasions or relying on lengthy film processing times are now a thing of the past. Changing tides (the introduction of high-quality smartphone cameras) have rapidly changed how the public thinks about these moments. Precious film was used previously to emphasize important occasions in decades past. Smartphones enable the average consumer to take thousands of photos—potentially of entire events or meals. These consumers may see recording the event as a way to recall fond memories, but more and more frequently have used these photos as evidence that they have attended an event. Recording these memories, rather than taking an event in for all its worth, has led to the depreciation of these social events in the present day.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/dec/13/death-of-photography-camera-phones
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16483509
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/smartphone-photography_n_7503180.html
http://time.com/3811490/smartphone-photography-at-woodstock/
http://photography.about.com/od/historyofphotography/a/photohistory.htm
Hi Kevin, great topic. I think that this will be interesting from your perspective because you are very interested in quality photography, so you might have insights into this topic that the rest of us don't. I think this is a really relatable and dynamic topic.
ReplyDeleteI think this is an excellent topic. The fact that we as a society have the access to cameras that take so many pictures truly has led to devaluing of events and memories. This problem as a whole mirrors our culture and the way we so easily dispense what we want. Great direction and focus!
ReplyDeleteKevin, your topic actually made me realize that I need to improve my topic. At first, I thought you was going to talk about how photos that are filtered creates a paradigm shift of low self esteem. But in reality, you looked beyond that and thought deeper, the idea of living in the moment versus capturing the moment is so true. I always try to record all of the legendary things I do in order to make the memory great, but is it making the event less great than what it could have been?
ReplyDeleteKevin, I really like this topic -- such terrific potential! Just a few observations:
ReplyDelete- Is the topic the shift of just taking more pictures of events, or of taking selfie pictures? Both are related, but they're different enough to consider the potential distinctions. (Ex: In the past, when we took pictures "outwardly," those pictures showed how we saw the world. They were taken from our vantage point -- what we saw, how we were directing our attention. With the increase of selfies, however, we're taking pictures "inwardly," which instead shows/reflects how we're SEEN in the world. Or, in other words, it's coming from the vantage point of how others might see us in our environments, not how we see our environments.)
This seems a bit different than the focus you're mentioning, which is more about how often we take pictures of our lives -- and, as a sad result, we don't fully "live" those events because we're too occupied photographing them.
Either way could be very interesting, but I want you to see the potential distinction between these two angles.
Hope this helps! I can't wait to hear more!