Photographer Mark Meyers just wrote up a nice enough story aimed at driving awareness fear in professional photographers … fear about the future of their career, their well-being, their jobs.
Depicted in that article this image at left, which was completely generated by the author of the post using an emerging 3d modeling software called Blender. The quote that stands out from the article is this one:
“If you are a photographer that makes a living shooting still-life photos, this should scare you…”
Bullshit. Unless of course…
You take the kind of photo that actually requires no personal vision…or
you’re unwilling to evolve with the industry…or
you’re somehow deluded that photography should be bound to wait for it’s sectors that can’t evolve…or
you’re unable to comprehend the definition of photography expanding into new horizons.
In which case it SHOULD scare you because you should be replaced.
Because whether the camera is 6 megapixels or 60, it’s a point and shoot or a dSLR, or … gasp…the “camera” is a dude sitting at a desktop computer…these tools are JUST TOOLS and cannot create compelling content without a human driver, a storyteller, a visionary at it’s helm. And those photos are the only photos you should be aiming to create…unless of course, you’re ok being replaced by a lower priced pork belly.
This might seem like tough love if you’re hearing this for the first time. Apologies. But, get used to hearing no. If you’re an aspiring amateur or new pro, it’s fair to be disappointed, frustrated, or to find yourself in a position where what’s sitting in your lap is something different than you thought you signed up for. But it’s not smart for any of us to feel entitled — to complain about an evolving creative marketplace or desire to freeze an entire industry in time. Whether we like it or not, all industries march on.
Consider this your prime opportunity to start (or continue) to differentiate yourself, your work, your vision from that of your peers.
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(via petapixel)
agree with some previous comments. there is many mamographers who shots P mode and as soon i little more difficult lighting situation appears are out of luck….machine will never completely replace brain and creativity. There still will be need for LIVE PERSON who can creatively analyze and make decisions and this still will be PHOTOGRAPHER
This post is more than a year old, but still really relevant Yeah I can see some clients using CGi generated images for ads But not all of them will. I mean the guys that are skilled enough to create a scene, a person, place the product and set a mood, and get emotional connection in a CGI created image sound like the kind of people I would want to hang out with. Thats incredible vision. But I would be surprised to ever see a time when a person sees a good photograph and feels nothing. Or a time when every person who wants to create compelling advertising will always choose CGI over real images or video. I have an even harder time seeing where CGI folks will take over Weddings, portraits, journalism, etc. People with vision and skill will probably always have a voice. The medium will change, but who cares. Learning is fun. And besides, if it did take over, I would just learn CGI and use great photographs as reference.
So, I think you missed the point of the article. It’s not aimed at driving fear. Instead it’s talking (eloquently I might add) about the nature of photography and why renderings will never replace real, connected photography. It doesn’t sound like you read to the end.
Uh, this is no different than thinking the drum machine will kill off the drummer. Yes, a very, very good drum machine user can emulate a real live drummer, but it’s a really rare talent, and even then, won’t be able to catch all the subtleties of real live drums. This is the same thing. Art is art.