Originally posted by:
ableman
I have occasionally wondered about one’s motivations for posting such absurd photos. Most personal photographs used to be primarily used to supplement the narrative, to give a visual enhancement to the story’s of life. They were taken with the eye and mind’s desire to best capture what’s happening at any given moment, be it a historic event, a gathering of family or friends, or an amusing or thought provoking incident.
I think back to the dawn of photography being used as a mass medium. Would the famous civil war photographer Mathew Brady, who conveyed hundreds of horrific and poignant images of the conflict, even consider for a fleeting moment the need to document a soldiers plate of beans? No, he would correctly focus on the story of gratitude shown on the soldiers faces for finally having a long delayed meal. Now I realize he was working with limited and rudimentary equipment, but I’m referring to his mindset behind the photos, not his resources.
Now, in the age of the smart phone and internet, personal photography is becoming banal and mundane. The “pic” has devalued the “picture”. They are no long worth a thousand words.
Leave the photos of your burger & fries on your phone (if you must take them). We don’t care. It doesn’t tell us anything about your experience, other than you either couldn’t find anything interesting to photograph, or you aren’t intelligent enough to recognize it.
As always.. a literate, well put together rant....and, as usual, you forget where you are..theres a few folks in here who I know appreciate it...and I hope you feel better...your rant is rather easy going, all things considered....I don't have to be...folks who post pictures of them wiping from left to right instead of right to left have no life...probably never did...and in all likelihood never will.........yes, you're right about how "easy" it is to take 1000 pics nowadawys, as opposed to the "process" of bygone days....I have a serious MINOLTA with 4 lenses, filters, autowinder, even some film...its stashed in a closet...It has no value...I checked the usual places...back in the day that rig cost me $1k more or less, I had to buy it piecemeal.....not counting film and developing....all this probably explains why, if you looked at my cell phone, theres only about 40 pics in there, and that took a few years...the pc, which has an even bigger capacity, might have 100....I can still actually remember stuff I had an interest in...places we've been ..ships we've been on....never felt the need to shove 11,316 pics of all the dinners we've eaten etc etc at ANYBODY...