DB Week 12: The impact of digital technology on photography

How digital technology changed the role of photography in the society?

The role of photography in society is to capture the innate qualities of any given subject and create memories of those once in a lifetime non-recurring events. Digital technology not only makes things a lot easier to operate modern camera-related devices and process images, it allows users to create imaginative scenarios never thought of before. For instance, digital enhancements on cameras will allow users to adjust the lighting effects on shots taken (white balance), and will allow users to explore the different scene options like indoor mode, portrait, and black and white modifications.

Unlike the one dimensional function of capturing images just the way they are, digital technology opens up doors to a number of innovative ways to express an image thus developing the creative mind state of the photographer. In other words, photographers are lured in to explore the degrees of how a photo can be taken under the influence of the popular digital technology.     

What has been the impact of digital photography on journalism?

“Smaller, lighter cameras greatly enhanced the role of the photojournalist. Since the 1960s, motor drives, electronic flash, auto-focus, better lenses and other camera enhancements have made picture taking easier. New digital cameras free photojournalists from the limitation of film roll length, as thousands of images can be stored on a single memory card.”

Content remains the most important element of photojournalism, but the ability to extend deadlines with rapid gathering and editing of images has brought significant changes. As recently as 15 years ago, nearly 30 minutes were needed to scan and transmit a single color photograph from a remote location to a news office for printing. Now, equipped with a digital camera, a mobile phone and a laptop computer, a photojournalist can send a high-quality image in minutes, even seconds after an event occurs. Camera phones and portable satellite links increasingly allow for the mobile transmission of images from almost any point on the earth. Even a regular citizen can assume the role of a news reporter by simply recording any breaking news when the opportunity arises. News broadcast stations are now encouraging citizens to record any citing they might have come across to assist awareness and feed news stories to the News station.

There is some concern by news photographers that the profession of photojournalism as it is known today could change to such a degree that it is unrecognizable as image-capturing technology naturally progresses. Citizen journalism and the increase in user contribution and submission of amateur photos to news sites are becoming more widespread. Overall, the impact of digital photography on journalism in essence is the ability for non-professional photojournalists to participate in the practice with limited amounts of skill, making the profession fun and interestingly captivating.



Assignment 4 Virtual Essay

Throughout this course, we have been given the opportunity to explore the different works of many talented and creative photographers. Names like Dorothea Lange, Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertesz now have some sort of significance in regards to photography. After close consideration of all these styles and different approaches, one photographer has opened doors of my ongoing curiosity of how important photography really is. Finding fragile beauty that endures the changing landscape of the American West despite the troublesome relationship with nature and society, Robert Adams incorporates meaningful cultural shifts and lifestyles. Adam's concept of capturing these moments has inspired me to view the fast changing world as fascinating episodes of perceived elegance.

 

These photos have reminded me of the works of Adams through his visionary concept of the ever changing landscape in co-relation with human interaction. "Adams’s art is devoted to the belief that all land, no matter what has been done to it, retains an enduring significance best expressed through a straightforward approach." I have chosen this set of photos because they all capture what Adams values most, the landscape and the emotional impact it creates thus describing a single picture in a thousand words. In addition, little or nothing has been done to these images mainly focusing on the simplicity of what a still frame can contribute.

Spanning left to right, the first photograph represents a mixture of urban development, if you will; it's almost like taking the basic foundation of an area and forming it into work of non-imaginary outcomes. The second photograph highlights the significance of social classes and the recognition of real life and commercial activity; I believe that there is a degree of an oxymoron being portrayed between that of the rich and the poor. The third photograph observes the change in lifestyle with the idea that beauty can be in the 'backyard' of one's home. The fourth photograph includes a person looking out into what was once the location of the Twin Towers. This photograph captures both aspects of Adam's work. Simply describing this photo as Ground Zero may be an understatement. Attached with significant importance, this photo represents the whole New York and its citizens despite the events of 9/11; the city still possesses its authentic nature through its signature 'concrete jungle'. Finally the fifth photo captures the beauty within the urban scene where most may see it as an industrial property; some may view it as architecture at its best. The theme is almost recapturing the historical presence of the city's life.  

 

In conclusion, I feel that Adams wanted to let people figure out that simple things should not be neglected or be taken advantage of. Adams collection includes a scenic widescreen of the American West landscapes hand in hand with the shifts and changes in societal environments. The images presented above have similarities that lie in the meaningfulness of each event given the value of the landscape and through Adam’s way of approaching each of his photographs would have potentially been impacted:

 

“His work was included in an exhibition titled New Topographics: Photographs of Man-Altered Landscape, curated by William Jenkins for the International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York in 1975. The exhibition ushered in the new era of landscape photography and it showcased the ideals of the new approach: landscape could not be artificially separated from cultural and social counterparts, and landscape photography had to abandon the hollow sense of style it had inherited from the previous half century. The exhibit was a milestone for a new generation of landscape photographers and it drew attention to the novel idea of a social landscape.”

 

Works Cited

"Robert Adams." Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2005-2010. Web. 3 Dec 2010.   <http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/adams_robert.php>.

"Robert Adams The Place We Live ." A Retrospective Selection of Photographs. Yale University Art Gallery, 2010. Web. 3 Dec 2010. <http://artgallery.yale.edu/adams/>.