FOG OF WAR

In our rapidly evolving landscape of technological progress, hardware and software see consistent updates. Some of these innovations grip the entire world in such a way that it feels as though our entire way of life has been truly disrupted. Bubbles emerge and paradigms shift.

There have been many such innovations, from the internet to the printing press, that had to push past the critics of their times in order to not only become pivotal to our society, but inspire even more innovations to come from the foundations they laid.

Among the many inventions that the world turned its nose up at was photography. As a photographer, this invention holds a special place in my heart; the same could not be said for its many critics and even the general population that this breakthrough device was marketed to.

In the time that the camera was still an obscure technology, there were many points made against its use. Some people thought that it would kill jobs, while others believed that having your photograph taken would quite literally strip you of your soul.

The only way to have your portrait done was with inks and colour, and it wasn’t cheap, so there was a certain exclusivity associated with portraits. This is another reason people were so resistant to photography becoming commonplace, as painters feared losing their jobs.

There was a belief that I am sure is still held by many to this day; I would certainly count myself among those who feel this way. What so many people believe is that there is something existential about a painting, something that at the time was misunderstood about photography as it was not valued as the art that it is. A painter will work on a painting sometimes for hundreds of hours, and in that time, not unlike an actor and her character, they become entwined through the thoughts and emotion shared between artist and subject. There is something left behind that contributes to the piece in a way similar to the inks, only it is not tangible and can’t be quantified.

Some believed cameras would steal your soul, others believed it would rob you of your intelligence. There was a worry amongst some people that relying on photographs would cause people’s ability to recall people and events to wither away and eventually die.

As is the case with meaningful invention and innovation of any kind, there was a fear that photography would cost people their jobs, but sitting here writing this as a photographer whose job it is to take photos of people, hindsight. The photograph may have stolen some business from painters, but ultimately, things found a natural balance as they always have.

There are three main groups of people here: people who were exposed to photography as it was invented, people who grew up with photography being a new technology, and people who were born into a world with cameras and photography. The first group contains the highest number of critics, as is always the case; people generally dislike change and will resist it. The second group represents the group that is beginning to adopt the technology as they are generally younger and more open-minded about things. Lastly, the third group almost always consists entirely of product users as they have grown up using it, along with the people in their lives.

Today, every major mobile phone update is usually an optical one. We are now up to three cameras on the iPhone, and no one thinks it’s too much. No one is worried about their soul being stolen, and in fact, some people can’t get enough. Some people will buy a mobile phone that is not available in their market just to have an extra camera.

Cameras have put photography out of business.