This is a rhetorical question because clearly photography is not dead, but I am struck by the fact that as the quality of pictures coming from our cell phone cameras improve, are we taking the time to compose photos much as we did when we were having to purchase expensive high-speed Kodachrome film for our old 35mm SLR?
I started looking at my cell phones camera roll and was amazed at the sheer volume of pictures there, most of which are devoid of any artistic composition, certainly not worthy of blowing up, framing, and hanging on my wall.
It seems to me that we are just snapping moments so they can be shared to our favorite “social” platform with little thought given to the composition, the direction of the sun and the light angles that creates. Do we consider framing the shot… and when was the last time we cleaned out cell phone cameras lens?
Back when we had to purchase film for any camera, which set a finite number of spots in which to expose that film, we took the time to compose the shot, check the sun angles, made sure the lens cap was removed, and made darn sure that lens was not covered in fingerprints or lint from our pants pocket.
Perhaps it time to start considering the value of a picture and to pay attention to the subject, working with the AI tools and filters this new media offers and perhaps blow-up a picture or two, frame it, and hang it on the wall.
