Since reading Mark Graf’s post on “Fighting static” my mine has been working overtime thinking about how living in the “Information Age” has affected us as people and on a much smaller scale those of use who pursue photography.
I’m certainly not presumptuous enough to have an all inclusive conversation on this subject and as with any subject, there’s two sides, the pros and the cons, the pluses and the minuses, the Yin and the Yang to consider.
However, one point in my thinking on how it applies to photography has taken me down this road.
A plus is “with the availability of so much information and technology the technical learning curve for beginner photographers has shortened.” No longer must years be spent investigating through a process of trial and error how each technical variance translates into the finished piece. You don’t need to create you own methods and workflows if you can borrow or buy them from someone else. There are hundreds and thousands of tutorials, how-to videos, and ready to apply charts/presets that cover every composition situation, cameras setting, and post-processing adjustment one can imagine. Find a style you like and there’s a “guide,” “recipe” or plug-in out there for it somewhere.
I’ve witness photographers produce some pretty impressive results, on the surface, in a relative short time.
Note: While I believe this abundance of knowledge and technology has provided a boost to the beginner, I strongly believe moving past the photographer craftsman level to master level can still only come from putting in hard work, accumulating experience, and honing natural skills and talents — no short-cutting the final steps.
A minus is “with the availability of so much information and technology the technical learning curve for beginner photographers has been shortened.” Yes, the same point as the above plus. My feeling is it’s during the early formative years that the seeds of artists style are often planted and developed. When so much information is consumed and so many ideas of others are adopted without perhaps testing their validity through our own growth process and developed focus can those borrowed seeds mature as well, or will it even matter if tomorrows artistic output is consumed in an ever larger tidal wave of information?
The information age has greatly increased the “static” levels we must deal with each day and the abundance of information comes with a price:
“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources” – Unknown
Call it “static” or “noise,” there’s an abundance of it these days.
I started to write an essay in response, and then my computer ate it. But in short – I agree.
While the short version is good, I hate your computer consumed the longer version. I would have enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
If I learned nothing else as a practicing statistician in the corporate world, it was that “information”, by itself, has little intrinsic value. It’s just a bunch of (sometimes) isolated facts and observations, sprinkled liberally with opinion and (sometimes) misinformation. Not to mention the all too frequent red herring. And we’re all exposed to it, every day. The only thing that makes “information” useful is a functioning mind that transforms all that stuff into “insight”. It’s only when we intelligently process all of that input that we truly learn. Too much information – without that processing – is, in my opinion, far more dangerous than no information at all.
This applies to the art of photography as well. You’re absolutely correct when you say that there are vast sources of available “how-to’s” out there. Information overload, if you will. And it shows sometimes. Whether in the field or at their computers, photographers sometimes do the damndest things. Like inappropriate use of HDR or oversaturating or over sharpening or whatever. Somebody “learned” a technique and said, “Hey, I can do that”. Without ever really thinking about it. The “growth process” you allude to is, I think, nothing more than thinking things through. Turning what we think we know into personal insight. Only then can we actually be “photographers”.
well stated Paul!
A fine abstract of this snowy scene. I like the discussion very much. I particularly agree with the idea that the final steps are very hard to achieve. I think the native talent – an ability to see and compose – is a major factor in the development of an excellent photographer. The technical ease with which we can snap pictures may actually inhibit the hard work of refining native skills and abilities.
I can’t think of any art form that has benefited from automation and computer control more than photography. Having had formal education in photography back when film and processing was considered an element in the creative process, it’s my belief that the art of photography is better now that in the past. Although the science (physics and chemistry) has been replaced by automation, the creative process is very much the same because the principals of the craft have not changed. The decision process to make a photograph are the same now as in the past. I agree that hard work is necessary to achieve the “master level”, but the learning curve is shorter now and attainable by the more dedicated photographers than ever before.
There is certainly a severe consequence in learning too much, too fast – I think you miss some of the subtle nuances that ultimately in the end help create the art side of photography.
These days it seems people can learn information pretty quick. But it still seems to take a lifetime to learn about yourself.
I think artists, as all humans, have always suffered from overload of some sort. The stress level in some previous eras must have been crushing. Our overload is information. It’s child’s play compared to yet another dying child, hunger, war and some of the other distractions dealt with by our predececessors. On the other hand, information is quite seductive as it comes clothed in innocence and seeming to offer only a helping hand. It is tempting to stay so busy learning new information that there is no time, as Mark observes, to get to know ourselves. Like everything in life, it seems to be a situation where we are charged with exercising moderation.
Paul, Don, Ken, Mark and Anita, I’ve enjoyed reading and thinking about your thoughts on this subject and I certainly appreciate you sharing them here in comments. I respect each of your views. I guess we all agree there’s certainly been an impact on photography and photographers by the abundance of information and technology that’s available. Just how positive or negative that impact has been is still a matter of opinion and will continue to be a topic for discussion. I judge this type of sharing of opinions as a learning experience, absolutely not static or noise.
it looks like etching, great bw shot