I differentiate between grown-up and restless
technology. Look at a scissor or a bike. Both are
grown-up. You don´t get 5 upgrades to them every
year, making you salivate and regret that you don´t
have the latest model.
“Latest model” well describes the trend. Actually
it´s not about usage or users, but business. Sure, a
better camera, for example, is better than a
weaker one, but there is such a thing as good
enough.
But “good enough” is not good for business. A
computer, or camera or such is never good enough
in our world. Upgrades are taken for granted.
Not with the scissor or bike, which are grown-up.
Apply this to photography. Lot of semi-amateurs
are buying better and better cameras. Does this
make the art of photography better? Well, more
slick perhaps.
There is an important divide here: Either you
concentrate on the machine (soon outdated) or
photographs. I see the first tendency as very
strong.
However, the end result is still the photograph,
irrespective of machine. The joy of technology and
of fiddling around with it (a somewhat childish
impulse) makes us forget the picture, while we
meditate over the specs of the latest super-
camera.
I believe one needs to get sober here. Grow up.
Choose artistry before technology. But of course
there is a problem with that: Most people who take
picture are not artists. They are amateurs with a
more or less expensive camera and skills in
Photoshop (also restless tech).
So let´s be radical and make our choice: camera or
photograph? In the end it seems to boil down to
that harsh question.
