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Digital Photography In The Modern World
The purpose of this essay is to present a clear and coherent argument that digital photographs are not too plentiful to be meaningful and that in fact, their abundance and easy accessibility allow humans to document moments in their everyday lives that hold great meaning. To support this argument, I will be sourcing research conducted by Jonas Larson, positing that digital photography provides a wealth of ethnographic information which is very meaningful to researchers and those in their field (142). In addition to this, I will draw on the writings of Catherine Zuromskis to demonstrate that the role of photographs in our current lives as well as in the past has always been to help their owners maintain potent individual memories of people or circumstances (18). It is my hope that by the end of this paper, you will understand that although digital photography is plentiful, it holds immense potential for education and learning, and helps preserve sometimes very intimate memories for digital photographers.
1. Digital Photography in the Modern World
Traditional photography as a pastime has often been associated with the wealthy or elite, those who could afford the expensive equipment and accessories necessary to take and develop the photographs. In the last two decades, the world has seen an emergence of amateur photography on a level unmatched by traditional photography. The prevalence of camera-phones in the average citizen’s life has made virtually everyone with access to a cellular phone an amateur photographer (Larsen, 142). Integrated technology has allowed for an easier to transport and easier use of the camera, which in turn has influenced the subjects and frequency of photography (Larson, 142). Although people may take photographs far more frequently, this does not mean that the photographs are without meaning. In fact, the ease of transport of modern cameras means that photographs can be taken in far more intimate settings – meetings between friends, school plays, anniversaries and dates, etc. These circumstantial moments can be remembered forever in ways that might have only been possible to do in memory mere decades ago.
2. The Impact of Digital Photography
With the understanding that amateur photography is so incredibly widespread, it is understandable then those modern humans leave a lot of photographic trails in our wake. Catherine Zuromskis suggests that examination of these photographic trails leads ethnographers to see a practice of memory creation, as well as imaginative personality cultivation, which would not have been possible in other decades (20). In this way, digital photography has given us a way to explore our own conceptions of self in a social sphere. This also allows digital ethnographers to explore data left behind to learn about human behavior and practices. While an argument can be made that cultivated expressions of self can also be seen in traditional photography, I argue that the sheer prevalence of digital photography allows us to explore different ‘selves in a more creative, faster way. Simply reviewing one’s Memories on Facebook can demonstrate that each person goes through very distinct social media phases.
Conclusion
To summarize, the change in technology that led to digital photography allowed for cameras to become much smaller and transportable, and thus accessible to the average person. This has led to an increase in usage and a trail of digital data which has persisted in cyberspace for ethnographers to look over. This data can provide them with a wealth of information about how people think and act, including an interesting practice of imaginative personality creation.
Works Cited
Larson, Jonas. "Practices and Flows of Digital Photography: An Ethnographic Framework”. Mobilities, 3.1 (2008): 141-160.
Zuromskis, Catherine. "Snapshot Photography: Now and Then: Making, Sharing and Liking Photographs at the Digital Frontier”. Afterimage, 44.1-2 (2016): 18-22.
