Feature By: Anish Kshatriya
Camera, a word used to describe a very complicated tool that freezes and imprints time onto something. Something which was said to be called a photo and photography, the art of doing so. However, this was hundreds of years ago. Today, everybody with a smartphone in their pocket is capable of taking millions of photos and videos.
The question, “Is photography really an art form anymore?” begs to be answered. In an attempt to find the answer, let’s go back 10-12 years from now when we still had mobile phones, but then they were only used for calling purposes. Although, no camera phones, we still had pocket cameras, also known as point-n-shoot cameras, used by the common public. The number of photos that were available to be clicked was limited. Hence, people really looked for a moment, and then pressed the button to freeze time onto the paper.
Not only that, even the film needed to be developed, and the photos were available to be looked at only after the film was developed. When the pictures came out of development, they were really cherished and even framed. However, nowadays, there being virtually unlimited storage on phones, people have stopped looking for moments.
In order to not miss a moment, everything is being captured, yet nothing is being felt. It is a classic paradox of choice. Moreover, the rise of social media where the quantity of posts is rewarded more than the quantity of them has aided in the rise of photography of excess. Amongst all of this, it seems like a photographer has lost his value & importance.
However, a photographer is not defined by the tools he uses but by his vision to capture something creatively, in a way the world doesn’t normally see. Thus, the advancement in technology enables the photographer to express his vision faster. This is why photography, however, polluted, is and always will be an art form; an art form of visionaries.
