Why Our Photos Are So Forgettable
“This spring, I was an adjudicator of the 2013 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival photography competition. This week, my three fellow judges – all professional photographers and curators – and I announced that we couldn’t find a winner, and won’t be awarding a prize for the first time in 18 years. There isn’t even a runner-up.”
Why? The judges said no one bothered to tell a story. No one had a unique vision. Instead, the entries relied on digital tricks and heavy-handed editing.
It’s not really surprising. Storytelling is not valued much on Flickr, Twitter, Instagram or anywhere else except personal blogs, which seem to wane in popularity among photographers as fancier (and instantly gratifying) new tools and services emerge.
My favorite part of the article could’ve come directly from this blog:
“When I’m shooting film, I have a finite number of images,” [Craig Richards] said. “And I really have to think about what I’m shooting. And this is where I think we’re going: People no longer have to think.”
Thinking is hard. Snapshots are easy.