Future Take - The Next Generation On Photography

I had an idea a few weeks ago to conduct a little piece of research. The notion came about through a nagging feeling that, for all the pundits’ views on photography, we’re not quite grasping the scale of the revolution in image making and the repercussions for manufacturers and professionals alike. I wanted to find out what does the future hold? And who better to ask than the very people set to shape it?

It turns out I had been beaten to it by Nikon - I came across a paper commissioned by the company to coincide with the Photokina photography show in Cologne last September. Titled The Future Of Imaging Report, its stated objective is to “describe the future of imaging…in a social, cultural and technological landscape that is rapidly transforming how people capture, share and use imagery.” How true, and hats off to any manufacturer which acknowledges that the camera needs to become a whole lot smarter if it is indeed to remain a relevant tool, even if it remains to be seen whether they follow through.

However, The Future Of Imaging Report is based on a series of interviews with “executives, academics, authors, scientists, editors and thinkers”. I wanted to ask the direct opinions of people who are going to be the likely consumers and producers of imagery ten years down the line. What are they doing now? What are their aspirations and needs? What’s their view on photography and its challenges and what trends do they anticipate? Will they even consider owning a camera? So I presented these questions to a group of 15 - 22 year-olds, most with a keen interest in technology or the visual arts and the responses speak for themselves.

A big thank you to those who participated and offered their time and thoughts. Photography is here to stay… even if the way we go about it changes.

You can read The Future Of Imaging Report here

Beth

“Photography is more about making memories than making art.”

Beth is doing A-Levels, including Film Studies, at sixth form college and photography plays a big role in her social life, “For many girls, taking photos of getting ready is the main part of going out!” She has access to professional cameras in connection with her course work but admits to feeling a little out of her depth with these. “I’d love a proper camera but given the choice I’d rather spend money on having an amazing experience than the equipment to photograph it.” She is a prolific social photographer with her phone, or even friends’ phones if they’re to hand, recording friendships and memories over the last two years in an ambitious and ongoing photo-a-day project. She uploads these to Facebook as an annual album which she additionally prints on a home printer to turn into a giant collage for her bedroom. What of the future? “Social media will become a camera in itself, it’s a front - we can’t go back to how photography was when it was invented - it’s now about manipulation.”

Alice

“It would be amazing to take photos with a blink of the eye - with a kind of eye implant.”

Alice’s portfolio for her Art GCSE is full of studies of goldfish and carp, confidently portrayed in great washed strokes, water colours of the family’s whippet Perdy and a series of thoughtful portraits set against backgrounds of calligraphy and pages torn from novels. Among these are the course’s required photographic studies, laid out as contact sheets and all shot on her digital SLR camera, which she uses almost exclusively in connection with her art projects. “I think you have to work quite hard at photography - I like artistic photos with clever angles or composition.” The camera was left at home, however, during a school trip to Italy; “It’s a bit too valuable but in fact I was relieved not to have to carry it and worry about it all the time. I use my phone for general photography and friends anyway.” Her artfully crafted selfie portraits play a central role in this output and shape her vision of the future: “My ideal camera? Something like an eye floating above you, capturing not just the scene, but you in it as well.”

Matt

“There will be no difference in quality between phones and cameras and anyway, it’s about how fast you can share.”

The DSLR camera used for Matt’s movie-making has been temporarily shelved pending imminent GCSE exams. Aged 16, he is already on his way to becoming an accomplished film producer / director, winning the accolade of Best Director Under 21 two years in a row in the Winchester Short Film Festival and having his last short film selected for show in London. Matt uses his camera mostly to shoot video in connection with testing and setting up shots for his productions but when he turns his attention to stills he says he likes to do street photography. “Photography is incredibly important in this day and age - it has become a universal language for story-telling and conveying ideas. I’m wary of taking boring, clichéd photos but to do photography well is really tricky.” His fantasy equipment of choice would be an analogue movie film camera: “Film is a living memory; it’s more organic, looks better, is more tangible. Digital is so much more complicated.”

Georgie

“Anybody can pick up a camera now and take photos. I think it’s no longer seen as an art form.”

Some of her fellow A-Level Photography students use their i-Phones for course work but Georgie perseveres with her DSLR, which she additionally uses to photograph nature and landscapes. “These cameras are a bit big and expensive - I’m not so interested in the gadgets and I don’t need all the features, which is why I use my phone a lot for day-to-day stuff, photographing friends.” Studying for the A-Level has made her thoughtful on the artistic merits of photography: “For photography to be considered art you need to have a concept, you have to know what you’re looking for in advance and then set about creating it. But most photos are taken to capture a moment rather than to create something.” Looking ahead, she sees technology helping to make photography even easier, “The equipment will become smaller, more smart-phone orientated. It won’t challenge the user, the camera will recognise the scene and do everything.”

Laura

“Photography is becoming all about creating and sharing stories.”

Another GCSE Art student, Laura is prolific in her photographic output, taking “lots” on her phone of “anything - friends, moments, memories - stuff that inspires, whether walking around the city or just in the garden.” She is keenly aware of a growing trend in visual story-telling through channels such as Instagram and Pinterest and where selfie portraits place the photographer at the centre of the action. “Photography is subjective - I might like a photo but actually the challenge is persuading others that it’s great. I think my enjoyment of it makes it easier; I’m more willing to experiment and persevere to get the right shot.” Laura foresees a merging of technology where cameras incorporate editing and sharing capability and where long-lasting batteries and miniaturisation will allow wearable, always-on capture. “If you’re serious about photography you’ll have a camera but smart phones will be used primarily by most people. Photography will be based around social media.”

Henry

“Professional photographers will continue to use SLR’s. For everyone else, phones will do it all.”

Henry, 22, is a Computer Science student at UCL taking a year out of his studies to spend time in the industry making apps and websites for small and medium businesses. His background in both the arts and technology has led to an equal appreciation of design and engineering alongside software development. “With technology, it’s important not to forget the human factors behind it.” He is a steady rather than prolific taker of photographs, using either a compact camera or phone to record one or two shots at a time of landmarks, places or social gatherings and nights out. “The value of photography in a social sense is reflected in the increasing amounts of photos that people take themselves and of themselves. People love photos.” Henry is also an enthusiastic user of Instagram. “As an art form, photography is easy to join in, hard to master. But with technology, the mastering part is getting easier.”

Emma

“Photography is a linear, accumulative process and loads of photos of sunsets are part and parcel of that.”

Emma has just started her degree in Human, Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge and reads deeply into my questions. She relies on a four-year old compact camera for her photography (uniquely among my interviewees, her phone is a Blackberry) although she is developing her interest with her mother’s recently bought DSLR. She is wary of the negative aspects of photography on social media and its potential to intrude. “For me photography is a personal recording, it’s a kind of memory hook.” Despite finding photography “paradoxically, really difficult” she enjoys looking out for street scenes, little details, or “something striking”. She has a particular fascination with the process that goes into making a photograph and the co-operation of her subjects to achieve an outcome: “I like to experiment with capture - I enjoy the novelty in the capture process itself.”

Reasons To Use A Camera On Holiday (And Not Just Your Phone)

Now, there’s no doubt some phones have pretty good cameras and I’m a big fan of the one on my iPhone. I like to use it as a kind of photographic sketchbook or to get a slightly different take on a scene using a creative app like Hipstamatic (you can see a few below). However, I still can’t imagine going on holiday without a "proper" camera, even though I’m wondering if this is now becoming a minority viewpoint. The thing is, of course, the phone is always to hand and such a great multi-tasker on the internet. From a photographic standpoint, this is a notion we have certainly taken to heart - and camera sales prove the point.

Earlier this year the Camera and Imaging Products Association of Japan (CIPA) reported global shipments of fixed lens cameras not just flatlining but in precipitous free fall, down 41 percent in a year, a wipeout largely attributable to our take-up of the phone for our day to day photography. The forecast for camera sales for this year was pretty pessimistic and latest actual figures bear this out; sales of cameras of all types (yes, for the first time, even those fancy mirrorless ones) in all markets except Japan are in decline. Grim reading for camera buffs. So, as we enter the height of the holiday season, I thought I’d issue a plea on behalf of the good old-fashioned camera; if we abandon it completely this can only be to the detriment of our holiday photographs. 

In my last post I touched on the merits of being more proactive in order to get better pictures on holiday, of adopting the role of director and guiding the action, if only for twenty minutes or so each day. If that was about approach, then this is about the tools for the job and I do remain a firm believer that if you want to get the best from your holiday photos, you shouldn’t just be relying on your phone for that. So, here are half a dozen reasons why I have been making room in my holiday packing for a camera:

Set up action!

The first, much touted and obvious point is quality, in terms of both capture and resolution but let's move this issue aside for a moment. I think there are equally important but more subtle factors to consider. Let’s start with frame of mind, for instance. We’re so used to carrying our phones all the time, the ubiquity of them clouds our judgement of what actually makes a good time for photography. Picking up a camera, on the other hand, forces us to think photographically about a scene, perhaps even to think about setting something up (there’s the director again) or to look and wait for a moment. I think having a camera at the ready puts me just a bit more on the lookout than merely having my phone in my pocket.

Waiting for the moment

Then there's artistic expression; I mean this in the sense of recording a scene as you really wish it to be remembered. A camera has a degree more control over this. I’m not talking about the need to be an expert here - a camera just has far more processing power dedicated to addressing the basics of focus and exposure, even in Auto mode. The one thing I find most frustrating with my phone camera is trying to fine tune exposure and that can mean the difference between a glorious sunset and a muddy silhouette.

Tricky lighting for a phone camera

Let’s not forget the practical side of things, the ergonomics. I love the elegant design of the iPhone, but the qualities that ensure I have it with me all the time are not the qualities that necessarily make it easy to take pictures in certain conditions. Like at 20 knots in a speed boat.

Not taken with my iPhone...

And doesn’t it make you feel a little queasy holding your £600 phone over twelve feet of water, knowing you need it for a conference call later in the afternoon? I know, you would never call the office while on holiday and there are waterproof cases and all sorts of action accessories on the market. Well, in the same way I have never seen anyone not check their phone for emails on holiday, I don’t think I have seen anyone carrying a phone on anything so much as a lanyard either. The fact is the camera on the phone is a periphery on a device designed to handle all our other communications needs so in many circumstances we don’t want to risk using (or losing) it. That definitely compromises the kind of photos we can capture.

An all-purpose waterproof and shockproof compact camera remains a good holiday bet

What of the photographs themselves? A well set up phone is presumably synching the photos with other devices and backing them up to a cloud service. I worry that’s where they stay, eventually buried with all the other stuff. The act of inserting a card into a camera and retrieving the photos later bears just a little semblance to loading a camera with film. Downloading the images as a discreet project allows for concentrated sorting and then editing the pick of the bunch for sharing and printing. I am not saying this can’t be done with a phone but I do think the process of doing this via a camera is a more photographically complete one, with more controls.

Son No.2 demonstrates another tricky lighting situation

Ah, did I mention quality? There’s no escaping the fact that the tiny little sensor in your phone doesn’t collect as much light and doesn’t output as many pixels as a mid-range camera. While the results may look fine online, what works on Facebook could well fall down when it comes to printing that calendar at the end of the year. If our holiday photos represent our most appealing and enduring memories, then aren't we looking to print some of them?

Holiday companion for a little while yet...

Don't get me wrong, I love my phone for photography - I'm sure the quality gap will continue to narrow, maybe we're already at a point where it's "good enough". But for the time being, I’m backing mine up with a proper camera, even just a compact one. Happy holidays!

Lost and Found

As the opening week of the 45th Rencontres de la Photographie gets under way in Arles, I am sitting here slightly frustrated at not being able to go and instead reflecting on my visit last year, with a consolatory glass of vin rosé. This southern French city which lies at the edge of the Camargue, a rugged region known for its cowboys, or guardiens, wild horses and bulls plays host each summer to one of Europe’s most vibrant photography festivals. 

Arles has a gutsy feel - in the high summer heat the air is frequently heavy with the scent of paella or the spice market and every so often the strains of a native Gypsy Kings song carry down the backstreets, where equally you could find yourself caught up in a bull chase. The tough side of Arles is accentuated by the uncompromising dominance of the Roman amphitheatre at its centre but a few minutes’ walk away the sublime Romanesque facade of the church of Sainte Trophime and its cloisters act as an architectural foil and a sense of calm and culture is restored. It’s against this historical backdrop that the city, briefly home to the painter Van Gogh, accommodates a wide-ranging collection of the world’s best photography each year. Churches and railway sheds alike get turned over to exhibition spaces and the bars of the Place du Forum buzz with gossip and debate about the arts.

A theme which struck me last year was the popularity of “found” or anonymous photographs, photographies trouvées, little family snapshots plucked from back in time, presumably from abandoned albums, attics, flea markets. You could rummage through boxes full of other people’s lost memories, little windows on to past lives available to purchase for a few euros. Often, it was children who were most captivated by the images - was it the tactile quality of the prints or the stories they held? One enterprising dealer had filled one of the fountains with photographs, which floated around waiting to be picked out by curious onlookers - a kind of metaphor for lives adrift on the currents of the world.

These photographs feel displaced outside of the context of family home - is the fact they were lost a result of the people in them being displaced themselves, either through migration or conflict? Or were they just abandoned by subsequent generations, unable or unwilling to carry on being custodians of these little archives? Earlier in the year I had had the privilege of a brief meeting with Tom Stoddart, whose black and white documentary photography is among the most compellingly powerful I know. His coverage of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1999 contains images of found or abandoned photographs, the fate of whose owners one can only contemplate with a sense of dread. The images are gentle, domestic, mundane and so totally at odds with the calamitous circumstances in which they’re found and recorded by Stoddart.

We cast little glimpses of ourselves on to online media all the time now and no doubt these images will be carried around the currents and backwaters of the internet for years to come. Over time, how likely is it that they will become detached from identity, like the prints floating around the fountain in Arles?

When Less Is More

I bought a GPS sports watch recently as a gift for my wife, a keen runner and cyclist, and inside the slightly over-sized box were no less than twelve separately bound instruction manuals, each nicely printed in various languages from English to - I’m hazarding a guess here - Finnish and Polish. This got me thinking, particularly when I also happened on a box full of unused plugs, all of which had originally been supplied with a single piece of electronic equipment. There seemingly isn’t a continent on Earth with electricity where you couldn’t use this gear, notwithstanding the fact that it’s too heavy to contemplate taking outside the UK. But what have a bunch of manuals and plugs got to do with photography? Well, it's a case of oversupply gone mad.

We’ve become all too familiar with the scenario now; it’s such common practice, whether we buy a camera, a computer or flat-pack furniture, in the box there will inevitably be an extra cable, extra screws or plugs and most definitely extra instruction manuals. 

The reason is obvious of course - modern economies of scale make it far, far easier and cheaper for a manufacturer to throw in all the peripheral bits and pieces than to be selective for individual products or markets. Better to lump everything in the box and then ship it anywhere. We consumers are okay with this because on the whole it’s easy to identify the items we need and discard the rest. It’s wasteful of resources, maybe, but efficient in practice.

However, what if it was really hard to identify the thing of value to us and difficult to discard what wasn’t wanted? Worse, what if the twelve instruction manuals were one mashed up volume with every other line in Polish, Italian, Danish? Because it seems to me this is what’s happening to photography. As it is with those manufacturers supplying manuals in umpteen languages, we often find it far more compelling to deal in bulk with our photographs, to upload or share without being particularly selective. Memory is cheap, dealing in quantity is easy. Being critical, discarding weaker content, creating a strong narrative with our pictures, these are all processes that require a bit of time, effort and possibly expense and the temptation is not to go through with them.

Would it be possible to sum up a summer holiday in just one picture, I wonder?

The removal of film and processing costs from the photographic equation has opened the doors to a tidal wave of imagery and the danger with being inundated is that everything becomes forgettable. If we can’t tell what’s worth keeping, how can we begin to create something lasting? So, let’s not ship everything in the box regardless - we need to do our photographs the justice of at least a little thought. In a world where we’re all potential publishers, we need to remember to adopt the role of picture editor too. It may be harder but our families and Facebook friends will thank us for a more considered approach, not to mention that we’ll be more likely to end up with something identifiably worth keeping for the future.

Photograph taken of an installation by Erik Kessels - 24HRS of Photos - at the Rencontres d'Arles, 2013