Photographs... memories and precious moments in our lives captured in time with a click of a camera shutter. These are the occasions and days of our lives that only happen once. Trust the professionals at Imagery Photography Saskatoon with your special moments because they understand the importance these memories hold and work with you to ensure that they stay with you for a lifetime. Imagery is your Trusted Saskatoon photographer and in this latest article, owner Milton shares his thoughts on the evolution of photography.
The Evolution Of Photography
Everything moves and shifts with the slow march of time until not much of the past normals are left to be sifted from the sands of the new.
There’s no question that tech has made us much more portable than we ever were. The equipment itself is far more sophisticated and capable — we can see what we are shooting in real-time; we can fine-tune everything to whatever our needs are. We are now able to transmit our pictures from anywhere we can get an internet connection.
When I started, everything was dependent on processed film, which meant having to bring film, a darkroom kit including enlarging and print-making equipment, and a transmitter (very much like a souped-up fax machine). We’d have to find or at least arrange for a telephone line and telephone access when we needed to send our images. The phone lines were all analog, and each picture took around 10 minutes to send — if the line was interrupted for any reason, we’d have to start over. If we got out 10 images in a day, that was huge.
Photographers now can send wide arrays of photos multiple times during the day. The upside of all of this is more time on the scene providing coverage and more choices sent. The smartphone has killed the lower-end camera market, and if it hasn’t killed the mid-range market, it’s sure breathing down its neck. Everyone has a camera with them now at all times, and there's no doubt that we're seeing images that we never before could have contemplated. As we all know, it’s not just still images but also video.
I think it’s the ultimate democratization of photography — anyone at any time from anywhere can produce images that can affect how we think of the world around us. I feel that the common misconception in the debate is that photography has a set value for everyone. I always try to see it in the same way as food shopping. Some of us love to eat, we love to cook, and we love to discover new restaurants.
We spend a disproportionate amount of our income at local farmers' markets, high-end supermarkets, and new openings. It matters to us and it’s something we want to invest in. Others want to spend their money on cars or clothes. That’s fine; they won’t be spending $200 on dinner, because they see no value in it. Photography is very much the same. If a client perceives the value of the event photography to be $100, then they are going to spend $100; a client looking for a $1200 photography delivery is not going to book a $100 photographer.
With each advance in the cellphone market, I wonder what the long-term prognosis is for the high-end cameras. The next evolutionary phase of photography might not be a progression in the way we make images. Instead, it’s quite possible the next unseen horizon will come from the way we share those images with the world or how we store them for ourselves. If a photograph indeed captures a memory, what use is that memory unless it can more tangibly be recalled? Looking back in the history of photography has each subsequent advancement not strived to make the photo more qualitative, more lasting, and more real?
