The Death of Photography

[Hogleg 44]

I just came across this article by By Ken Rockwell.

The people who invented it are
trying to kill it. Will you let them?

Hobbyists vs. Photography

[Cornbread]

Chicken Little says the sky is falling.

[jgrindal]

Ken Rockwell is the bane of the photography world. He talks about all of these photography principles and claims to be one of the premier sources of information in the photography world, but has anyone really been that impressed with any of his photos? I know I haven't.

[tropicpine]

Having just built my own 5x7 enlarger, I am the problem. Seeing the photographs that come out of my enlarger, I am the solution.

The author assumes that tinkerers have seldom take the time to visualize the end photograph before pressing the shutter button. My own tinkering is one of the results of my visualization.

[johnastovall]

Richard Gere's Gerbil is smarter than KR when it comes to Photography.

[Brains]

Yeah I was almost interested in the article, until I saw who the author was. Ken Rockwell is nothing more than an exploiter of photography and the photography community - he is NOT a photographer. Hell, he's not even a hobbyist in my opinion.

[Murph]

May be, but he gets more hits than anyone else out there. And even a blind squirrel can find a nut occasionally....

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by Murph

May be, but he gets more hits than anyone else out there. And even a blind squirrel can find a nut occasionally....

The only nut in that article was the author.

[Flea77]

Say what you want about KR, I thought the article was pretty well on point.

Allan

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by Flea77

Say what you want about KR, I thought the article was pretty well on point.

Allan

What exactly was the point? It was a bunch of rambling nonsense.

Do some people spend more time worrying about gear than actually taking pictures? Yes, but that has always been the case and I see absolutely nothing to indicate that these folks are on the verge of killing photography.

[Flea77]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

What exactly was the point? It was a bunch of rambling nonsense.

Do some people spend more time worrying about gear than actually taking pictures? Yes, but that has always been the case and I see absolutely nothing to indicate that these folks are on the verge of killing photography.

What I read in it, which I realize could be wildly different from what you read, is that way too much time and effort is spent trying to 'fix' a image instead of concentrating on taking a great image to start with.

Now you may say "DUH!", but then again I doubt that you are his intended audience. His target is most likely way down on the skill level chart from you or I, and this article seems appropriate for that target.

If he can use his obvious internet presence to make more people realize that no amount of equipment, no software program, and no amount of computer hardware can 'fix' a crummy photo then I am all for it. YMMV.

Allan

[jeffkohn]

We've all heard the "there is no silver bullet, it's the photographer not the camera, etc, etc", but as usual Ken rambled off into left field (he even managed to bring up porn). How he got from that to "Hobbyists are killing photography" is beyond me.

The problem with Ken is that he says just enough that sounds like it has a grain a truth so that the novices he supposedly is writing for get misled by the other BS he mixes in.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

The problem with Ken is that he says just enough that sounds like it has a grain a truth so that the novices he supposedly is writing for get misled by the other BS he mixes in.

LOL! He could be a politician.

- Wil

[wclavey]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

Do some people spend more time worrying about gear than actually taking pictures? Yes, but that has always been the case and I see absolutely nothing to indicate that these folks are on the verge of killing photography.

I agree... and that is the case with every hobby or sport I get involved in: astronomy, figure skating, golf, amateur radio, bicycling... there are generally 2 groups of people: those in it for the gadget factor and those in it because they like the feeling of doing whatever it is...

In general, I always hope I am not one of the gadget people, but I know that in at least one case I am: amateur radio - - I do not get a kick out of sitting around talking to people on the radio, but I love designing and building and repairing equipment and constructing and testing antennae... but I do not feel that I have contributed to the demise of amateur radio. In fact, I would argue the reverse: a pursuit that cannot tolerate a wide range of participants with interests in different aspects, including the gadget fact, is destined to die.

I was particularly disgusted by the glib mix of motherhood-and-apple-pie with a clearly warped outlook. And his assertion about "Almost nothing fundamental has been developed by large corporations, or even by people working at their day jobs..." demonstrates a lack of understanding (...in addition to just being purely wrong...) on so many levels I don't even know where to begin.

[studiocygnet]

That's the funny part, he never did really explain or try to connect how gear freaks and photoshop junkies are "killing" photography. So there are a bunch of bad pictures out there, just makes my efforts look better.
Kinda like rock and roll, how many times has it supposed to have died already?