For centuries photography has been called the art of drawing with light. This is because the word photography is made of two Greek words: ‘phos’, which means light, and ‘graphe’, which means to draw.
However, never before has photography underwent such a tumultuous change as it has in the last two decades. The change has been powered by two forces:
The first is technology. It has given you new tools to take photographs.
The second is the impact of computing, telephony and the rise of the Internet. It has changed the way you use photographs.
Impact on equipment
The first to go were film-based cameras. The highly popular single lens reflex cameras, or SLRs as they were called, started becoming a relic in the late 1990s and early 21st century. Reason: The arrival of digital cameras.
The next to disappear were photo films. There was no further need for ISO-marked film rolls, negatives or transparencies. The image was being burnt on digital sensors, and stored on memory cards. Result: the 130-year-old Kodak Eastman company filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Then the darkrooms vanished. There was no need to cut and develop films in near dark conditions. There was no more demand for developers and hypo-fixers or for developing tanks and enlargers. The photographers were asked to shut down darkrooms and start sitting in front of computer terminals.
The contents of camera bags changed. They no longer contained ISO-marked film rolls. Instead, they carried memory cards, 3G data cards, spare batteries, chargers and portable hard drives.
Impact on skills
The photographers were required to master a new skill: photo editing. Instead of developing films, they had to scan positives, crop photographs and enhance images digitally. Those who did not make the change perished.
Those who made the change entered a new world. They could now be trigger happy — take hundreds of shots, delete the ones they didn’t like, and shoot again. There was no pressure of working with limited resources.
They could even shoot a “burst”. With a single click they could shoot eight pictures of a single moment. The technology made it possible for even the less accomplished to scale new heights.
Impact on picture development
In the pre-digital era, a photographer had to spend years in the darkroom to qualify for photography. Most leading photo-journalists developed their own photographs instead of leaving them to darkroom boys. But the darkroom technology had its limitations.
Even the masters could not go beyond a certain point. Technology has removed this limitation. Today, every photographer knows that he can digitally enhance the quality of photographs with photo-editing software. He can change contrast, reduce noise, add noise, crop the image, change the focus, resize the image, reduce resolution, create aging effects, add reflections etc. There is no end to the kinds of modifications the photographer can make.
Impact on picture storage
For decades, negatives and printed images were stored in dust-free and temperature controlled rooms. Hours were spent on cataloguing negatives. Yet, it was always a task to find the right negative. The printed photographs were even more difficult to store. They would inevitably get discolored over the years.
The new technology has done away with the need to store images physically. Photographs are now stored digitally in CDs, laptops, tablets or on the net. Back ups are maintained to ensure that a copy is always available.
There is also no need to spend hours to locate a specific photograph. Any digital image can be found in seconds using the search box. The photographer can shoot an unlimited number of images without fear of running out of space. The memory cards can store upto 128 GB of data.
Impact on photo sharing
The photographs were rarely shared in the pre-digital era. They were inserted in hard bound albums, and kept in cupboards to be shown to friends and relatives on festivals and occasions. Today, most individuals publish their photographs on Facebook for being shared or commented upon by their friends and relatives.
Impact on social and cultural attitudes
The biggest change has been in the way photography is seen by society. It is no longer the mere capture of family moments for future remembrance. It is more the documentation and sharing of everyday experiences on the net, an activity which can be called a form of social communication or peer-building.
The function of photography can now be described as self-presentation instead of family representation.
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