{"id":53074,"date":"2017-06-17T00:58:23","date_gmt":"2017-06-17T07:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=53074"},"modified":"2017-06-17T01:53:46","modified_gmt":"2017-06-17T08:53:46","slug":"brave-new-world-of-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/17\/brave-new-world-of-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"BRAVE NEW WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I’m very afraid for the future of photography and humanity.<\/p>\n

Download PDF ><\/a><\/p>\n

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I’m also very hopeful.<\/p>\n

Okay first of all, some trends I’m seeing:<\/p>\n

Less creative freedom<\/h2>\n

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So, there are really any more independent photography bloggers. Rather, we are all on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, or some social media platform.<\/p>\n

The problem: we have less creative freedom.<\/p>\n

For example, on Instagram you cannot change the order of your images. New photos will always show up on top. You cannot add hyperlinks in your posts.<\/p>\n

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On Facebook: when people see your photos in their stream, they will also see advertisements. You cannot block advertisements on your Facebook photos.<\/p>\n

I think photography blogs<\/a> are the answer. Register on 1and1.com and install WordPress.org. The benefit of using a wordpress photography blogging platform: you own your content. And you can control whether you put on advertisements or not. You can easily mass import and export content. You can mix visuals with text, or audio or video.<\/p>\n

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Not only that, but realize– Instagram is owned by Facebook, and Facebook\/Instagram are advertising platforms. Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and all these other \u00e2\u20ac\u0153free” companies are companies. Their purpose is to make money. And how do they make money? By delivering you content-tailored advertisements, based on your personal browsing behavior, what you “like”, what you comment on, etc.<\/p>\n

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So on one hand I love social media– it connects us. People who are poor and cannot afford to pay for their own website is empowered.<\/p>\n

Yet, we are also trapped. To be honest, you are kind of at a slight disadvantage if you’re not on Facebook or Instagram.<\/p>\n

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Even scarier: the only real photo sharing networks in existence now is Facebook and Instagram (same company). Which means, there is a monopoly of images on just one platform. Which means, Facebook can eventually manipulate the images we are being delivered through their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153News feed algorithm\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. For further reading, read the book \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The filter bubble\u00e2\u20ac\u009d– the basic concept that we are becoming tunnel-visioned in terms of what is being fed us in our news feeds. So liberals will only see pro-liberal news, and conservatives will only see pro-conservative news. It is a lot of navel-gazing, which prevents us from seeing a diversity of opinions, ideas, and thoughts.<\/p>\n

SOMA<\/h2>\n

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In Aldous Huxley’s book \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brave New World\u00e2\u20ac\u009d– he envisioned a world where everyone was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, because everyone took \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Soma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d– imagine a mix between ecstasy and weed, with no downsides. People wouldn’t care that the world was going to shit, because everyone \u00e2\u20ac\u0153felt good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

Today’s world, our photography soma is the likes we get on Facebook, Instagram, and the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153snaps\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we get on Snapchat, and messages on What’s app, Facebook Messenger, or anything else in our social media streams.<\/p>\n

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Above all, our soma is advertising. The only reason the capitalistic engine keeps running: we keep having desires to fulfill. We keep working at our shitty jobs, just so we can buy that new Range Rover, that new Hermes bag, or that new Giuseppe shoe.<\/p>\n

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As photographers, many of us have good jobs. Yet, we are stuck in golden cubicle prisons. We think if we just bought that new Leica or digital camera, we would have more freedom, to travel, wander, be a nomad, and make photos.<\/p>\n

Sad reality: ain’t no camera gonna buy your freedom.<\/p>\n

Hedonic Treadmill<\/h2>\n

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