Read Gareth Dent’s article ‘Dealing with the flood…’ on https://weareoca.com/ subject/photography/people-are-hungry-for-stories/
If you use social media, spend a few minutes reflecting on how you use photography within it, particularly if you engage in photography in other contexts as well.
• What is the purpose of the photographs you post on Facebook or send via Instagram? Do you stick to ‘social’ photos or would you disseminate something more considered or ‘artistic’ by the same route?
• Do social media democratise or devalue photography?
• Are you contributing to the ‘flood’ and is this a good or a bad thing? Make some notes in your learning log.
The purpose of the photographs I share on my social media are primarily to do just that, to ‘share’. I share pictures of myself, of my children, of the places we go, the things we do and artwork I've made. Not only is it a digital record of our lives, but it’s also a way of conversing with people I know. I'm interested in their lives as they are interested in mine and we use social media to share the good and the bad with the use of images.
I'm aware of other people who use social media to share photographs now as ‘influencers’, they are paid to advertise products because they have a large following online. They also share photos of themselves or their products in an aesthetically pleasing way to gain that following, i believe because in most societies we enjoy looking at perfection, and try to find it and buy it for ourselves hoping it gives us satisfaction. Personally, I know I fall victim to these attitudes whether I want to or not. I have often found my photographs, particularly of myself or my artwork because they don't reach a certain standard that a professional would. I think the majority of social media users feel the same way.
It's hard to say what social media does to or for photography in one simple answer. There are many arguments that it gives people across the globe connections to people and views they would never see. We are able to share the realities of our worlds or ‘dress them up’ to be more appealing. Even when i look back at my own profile i see a section of my life’s story, good and bad, and many memories that may have otherwise been closed away in a photo album.
I don't believe social media devalues photography as if that were the case, professional photographers would be out of the job. The fact that we are all able to take photos could prove that photography in the artistic sense is a skill, one that is still worthy of being learned if someone wants to create images with that kind of quality. I believe that people are becoming more familiar with ‘modelling’ than photography because of the invention of the ‘seflie’, that is the skills that lay in creating poses and perceptions of oneself are relied upon more than the actual camera and the technology behind it.
If we were to consider the infinite current of images being uploaded to the internet on a daily basis a ‘flood’ then anyone who has uploaded even one image in the last 20 years could be considered as a contributor. I can understand why someone would describe the overwhelm of images as a ‘flood’, but I don't think it can be blamed on photography itself. I believe it's based on the social media platforms themselves, and the structure of social attitudes that such platforms have taken advantage of.
I believe the flood began long before social media, with television, advertising and many other forms of media. We are flooded, every day, with images all around us. But it depends on how we interpret them, as a photographer may be more aware of photographic opportunities and hold more criticism for images with a professional eye. The majority of us observe and consume the images without a second thought. I think what is more concerning is not the amount of images that are being made, but what the images are for and what they contain. They add more to unattainable constructs, disturbing injustices and capitalist consumerism with relentless advertising.
Though, obviously the quantity of images adds to these issues. I can see that unlike before when we were more able to not buy that magazine or not watch that channel on television, social media has become relied upon especially for the necessity of some form of human contact. They are proven addictive for these reasons, and the ‘flood’ of images is the result of millions of people reaching out for those social connections that come from approval and acceptance, even digitally. Some people I believe then start to see the world through their phone’s camera lens. We see our worlds more and more through the eyes of our social media accounts and what might or might not gain those ‘likes’. We add more and more photos as we progress, to maintain our presence online and to continue the process of digital interaction.
Comments
Post a Comment