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Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

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Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#21
post #13
post #11

Talking about what good and bad means in photography always reminds me of Miroslav Tichý, who said "if you want to be famous, you must do something more badly than anybody in the entire world", and took terrible but strangely brilliant photos with homemade cameras: https://flashbak.com/photographs-by-the-perverted-flaneur-mi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_Tich%C3%BD

Funny, without context (that I am unwilling to pursue atm, just skipped the whole article for the photos) they just look terrible pictures. Period.

Yup, you can't just take awful photos and say "these are good actually". Well, in the art world you can get away with that kind of nonsense. But to most people those are just terrible photos.

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#22
post #6

The example of a selfie is in fact, not a selfie.

I frequently see people say online that they "took a selfie of" something else these days. This language really bothers me.

At a restaurant someone from a group of youngs once handed me her phone and asked me to "take a selfie of us".

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#23
post #11

Talking about what good and bad means in photography always reminds me of Miroslav Tichý, who said "if you want to be famous, you must do something more badly than anybody in the entire world", and took terrible but strangely brilliant photos with homemade cameras: https://flashbak.com/photographs-by-the-perverted-flaneur-mi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_Tich%C3%BD

The imperfections serve as a kind of verfremdungseffekt, making the viewer aware that he's looking at a photograph, rather than at a person. As such René Magritte comes to mind. It is fascinating that he made his own camera, though. That certainly adds to the quality of the images, though it's of course a kind of non-diegetic contents. He said, with a wry smile.

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#24
post #7

Another recent example of how "bad photography" inspired "good photos" is Juergen Teller's shoot with W magazine. https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/best-performances-portfoli... The photos are typical of Juergen's style. But his style has been evolving more into casual snapshot aesthetic, but in more ironic way.

The same thing happened in fashion.

High fashion is always copying what the regular unfashionable people on the street are wearing, in the eternal search for authenticity.

Which is why things like bubble jackets, sweat pants, crocs and dad sneakers evolved from being laughed at to being very fashionable.

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a picture of people taking a selfie. I think that communicates what a selfie is better than an actual selfie.

The caption says, somewhat ambiguously, "Example of a selfie". That could mean "this image is an example of a selfie" (which is false). Alternatively it could mean "this image shows an example of a selfie being taken" (which is true).

[deleted]

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#27
post #7

Another recent example of how "bad photography" inspired "good photos" is Juergen Teller's shoot with W magazine. https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/best-performances-portfoli... The photos are typical of Juergen's style. But his style has been evolving more into casual snapshot aesthetic, but in more ironic way.

The same thing happened in fashion. High fashion is always copying what the regular unfashionable people on the street are wearing, in the eternal search for authenticity. Which is why things like bubble jackets, sweat pants, crocs and dad sneakers evolved from being laughed at to being very fashionable.

I must be out of touch, those aren’t fashionable and I don’t think most people in their 20s would think they are (sure they wear them all the time but that’s because of a rejection of fashion in favor of comfort.)

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#28
post #17
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I frequently see people say online that they "took a selfie of" something else these days. This language really bothers me.

This points to a deep rooted problem. Probably OCD. (Ha, you expected me to write about a problem in how people use language, got ya :-)

Or, a deeply-rooted assumption that "conformance to some arbitrary rules that have been adopted as signifiers of intelligence and class" is in some way an admirable quality, rather than the abilities to infer meaning in the face of ambiguity and to update one's mental model in response to new information (also known as "intelligence")

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#29
post #13
post #11

Talking about what good and bad means in photography always reminds me of Miroslav Tichý, who said "if you want to be famous, you must do something more badly than anybody in the entire world", and took terrible but strangely brilliant photos with homemade cameras: https://flashbak.com/photographs-by-the-perverted-flaneur-mi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_Tich%C3%BD

Funny, without context (that I am unwilling to pursue atm, just skipped the whole article for the photos) they just look terrible pictures. Period.

Adding context does little to change that, unfortunately.

I could understand if they evoked some kind of emotions or served as a deconstruction of photography technique, but most of them just look like deliberately bad photographs to me.

Then again, I'm only an amateur at photography.

Re: Photography technology has influenced what people consider a good picture

#30
Yes the craft of photography has gone mainstream with digital. Easier to use for the average person, with filters and effects, but doesn't make the average users professionals. Mobile phone images are the new throwaway polaroid. However, the professionals with digital equipment do some incredible things.
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