What a Difference Ten Years Makes!
I know some time before Facebook, before Twitter, before email, blogging and the Internet, I actually had a life. It wasn’t too different from The Brady Bunch minus Alice and just two of the kids. Yeah, I’m dating myself a little, but just look back at how your life has changed in the last ten years!
The Internet changed the way we share images, shop and communicate. Digital photography changed the way we create and capture. Social Media changed the way we connect and with who we connect. Do I miss my life from ten years ago – NOT A CHANCE!
First, I love staying connected to an industry I truly appreciate. Think about the people you “talk” to every day. It used to be a year between friends connecting, often only at an annual trade show. Now I’m connected to those once-a-year friends every day.
Second, the world is getting to be a tiny place. I “talked” to Jerry Ghionis from Australia the other day who’s in Rome doing a wedding with Ryan Schembri. And I’m connected to Yervant and Anie on a regular basis. I’ve never met Chris Fawkes and yet we regularly communicate, again on Facebook. I can also keep track of where everybody is…Seshu, who I’ve also never formally met, a contributor to Charity Fest last fall, is on his way back to CT from India, Joe Buissink was in Russia and Charity Goh, a student I met at Hallmark Institute last year is trying to land a job in her home country of Singapore. It’s all thanks to Twitter and Facebook.
Third, trends that used to take months to create, are out there in seconds in front of hundreds of thousands of people. And if a manufacturer produces an inferior product, the word is out on a dozen forums in a flash. Best of all, when you need help with a challenge, especially in photography, just post it on a forum like DWF and watch the number of people, many of whom you’ve never met, come to your aid!
Fourth, how about the way digital technology is changing our lives? Jason Groupp, Charles and Jennifer Maring, Joseph Victor Stefanchik and Katherine Hall are leading the charge in Fusion Technology, while Jose Villa is shooting exclusively film and creating work that’s spectacular. Bambi Cantrell and Dawn Shields worked a bridal fair recently and Bambi sent me an image on her i-phone that was good enough to post on the blog! We’ve got the very best of all worlds at our fingertips.
The world shrinks a little with every step you take further into Social Media, but best of all is the power you have as a photographer to market yourself. If you do it right and build your website and blog with a great attitude and the dedication to stay involved, you’ve got the power to communicate that just a few years ago only a national magazine might have had! Scott Bourne’s PhotoFocus site has over a million page views every month, more than most publications!
So, every now and then I’ll complain that my day starts out with a couple of hours of blogging and I’m answering emails before the sun comes up. But, would I go back to a nine to five job and not knowing what was going on until I literally opened my mail? Would I trade in my computer for the silver letter opener my Dad had on his desk? Would I trade in the excitement of “chimping” now and then for the pride of getting 38 exposures out of a 36 exposure roll?
The answer to all of the questions and the dozens we could all add to the list – NEVER! In the history of photography, there’s never been a more exciting time and never more tools at our disposal to capture, create and share images. If you’re not actively involved in staying on top of technology, as well as social media, you need to take another look. I found the following quotes that seem so appropriate:
”Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”
Stewart Brand
“The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn’t think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential.”
Steve Ballmer
This post has 2 comments
February 11th, 2010
What an exciting and positive take on the transformation of our lives and industries. So often we hear about the negatives, and while there are some drawbacks to the social media lifestyle, focusing on the positive benefits, new relationships, and untold opportunities really inspires and opens new doors! Nicely done!
February 11th, 2010
Excellent post as usual Skip. It’s mind-blowing the amount of resources that are available today for photographers. In my opinion, there is actually too much information on the web. I know I spend way too much time reading blogs, checking Facebook and Twitter, I’m pretty sure a lot of other photographers do too. If you want to be a photographer, you mustn’t forget to shoot as much as you possibly can. That is if you really want to be a shooting photographer. There is also a trend, and don’t get me wrong, I do respect and admire all of these people for there accomplishments. However, it appears to me that a great deal of the “successful” photographers out there right now are actually making most of their money from the pockets of other photographers. There’s nothing wrong with that, I just can see that as being confusing to a person starting out in the industry. So there are sort of 2 paths: Photo Entrepreneur or Photographer, or if you are super focused, smart, creative, passionate, and persistent, you can be both.
The fact that we always have a camera on us with the iPhone is such an energy stream for our creativity.
Don’t forget to shoot.
Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more…
I find my iPhonography is some of my most refreshing recent work lately. It’s like being in the darkroom for the first time. Print tongs are hard to use on the screen though.
Some of my favorite iPhone shots over the last 100 days:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlgphoto/sets/72157622600655424/