insights into photography
My good friend David Thomas alerted me to this article in The New Yorker
This is a really interesting and important article because it looks and addresses the issues that photography now faces. Yes I know that sounds heavy and overblown but there is no doubt that the way we make pictures, what we do with them and how they are consumed has changed, and changed for ever. Don’t worry I am not deaf to all those who tell me film is coming back, it’s just that I think it is doing so only to those who like the film process and mostly those are not the people who are interested in image making. They enjoy the craft based process and uncertainty that they introduce into the image production through lack of control that film can bring if you don’t know what you are doing with it.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JORDAN STRAUSS / INVISION / AP
“Today everything exists to end in a photograph,” Susan Sontag wrote in her seminal 1977 book “On Photography.” This was something I thought about when I recently read that Google was making its one-hundred-and-forty-nine-dollar photo-editing suite, the Google Nik Collection, free. This photo-editing software is as beloved among photographers as, say, Katz’s Deli is among those who dream of pastrami sandwiches.
Before Google bought it, in 2012, the collection cost five hundred dollars. It is made up of seven pieces of specialized software that, when used in combination with other photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom, give photographers a level of control akin to that once found in the darkroom. They can mimic old film stock, add analog photo effects, or turn color shots into black-and-white photos. The suite can transform modestly good photos into magical ones. Collectively, Nik’s intellectual sophistication is that of a chess grand master. I don’t mind paying for the software, and neither do thousands of photographers and enthusiasts. So, like many, I wondered, why would Google make it free?
My guess is that it wants to kill the software, but it doesn’t want the P.R. nightmare that would follow. Remember the outcry over its decision to shut down its tool for R.S.S. feeds, Google Reader? Nik loyalists are even more rabid. By making the software free, the company can both ignore the product and avoid a backlash. But make no mistake: it is only a matter of time before Nik goes the way of the film camera—into the dustbin of technological history.”….
Google’s comments—disheartening as they might be—reflect the reality of our shifting technologies. Sure, we all like listening to music on vinyl, but that doesn’t mean streaming music on Spotify is bad. Streaming just fits today’s world better. I love my paper and ink, but I see the benefits of the iPad and Apple Pencil. Digital photography is going through a similar change, and Google is smart to refocus.
Read the rest of this article and here you can download the Google Nik Software for free
The much anticipated arrival of the Google Glasses with augmented reality and inbuilt camera/video have been shown at the I/O event. Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin took to the stage to showcase the firm’s Glass project – augmented reality glasses that are still in development.
ABC have a further report on these new glasses and as well as overlaying information on your specs these glasses also have a camera that will record stills and video as we learn here…
They are about the same weight as my pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. (Olsson wouldn’t let me put them on, but I was able to feel them and take a look at the buttons.) And it’s hard to believe that in the spectacles lives a tiny computer. She explains that they have taken the parts of a smartphone — the processor, battery, etc. — and put it in the left leg (or right depending on which way you view them) of the glasses.
On the front of the glasses, in the top left (or right depending on which way you view them) corner is a small camera and a small glass-looking box, which is a tiny display. On the top of the glasses is a power button and a camera button. You control the screen’s interface with the touchpad on the leg of the glasses…..Olsson’s glasses weren’t powered on, but she explained to me that she typically takes pictures with the camera and then uploads them using the WiFi or Bluetooth in the glasses. You can connect the glasses to a phone via Bluetooth and use the phone’s 3G or 4G connection. Olsson and the others wearing the glasses at the conference wouldn’t discuss battery life.
So in the future will we need cameras? Now so many people eschew compact cameras for their camera phones, will these go the way of film too, consigned to museums.
All I ask is that the new specs be called Goggles
Read the full ABC news report here
This is what Google have to say about their “Project Glass’
Yesterday 7:35 PM – Public
We’re still in early development days, but at Google I/O this morning we wanted to do a product demo in a way we’d never tried before. We worked with some of the world’s top athletes, combined skydiving and mountain biking, and shared the experience — through their eyes — with the world.
If you missed it, we’d love you to be able to see how we put this together, so tune in live tomorrow (weather permitting!) at roughly 11am at https://developers.google.com/events/io/ to check it out.
And you may just catch another Hangout in Air.
I must use google 20 or 30 times a day and although I am there more than I am at home I had never heard of the google photography prize until it announced a winner.
“Viktor is a 24-year-old student at the Swedish photography school, Nordens Fotoskola Biskops-Arnö. The judges were impressed and captivated with his series that focused on Christoffer Eskilsson, Sweden’s best male diver from 10 metres. Viktor has chosen to show us an alternative view, one that we are not used to seeing from sport photography in the media. Instead of glamorous action shots of an athlete in competition, he has produced arresting and unexpected photographs that focus on the long, lonely hours of repetitive training and practice that it takes to excel in your field.”
I have searched for a web site for Viktor without luck so although there is much media coverage of his win and his winning portfolio you may have to wait for further information.
I think that the competition is open to students, but if I am honest I haven’t looked at the rules, and I also assume there is a competition running through the next 12 months but again I struggle to find the information, seems to me that for an information company google are not doing well in this instance.
Here is the link to the google photography prize page
All images © Viktor Johansson
Other links of interest
Digital Photography School brings you this advice
“Google tells us that there are almost one million photography websites on the web right now. This is bad news for you. The good news is that most of these websites suck. Photographers keep making the same mistakes over and over again, never getting the best out of their websites.
This post will show you what are these deadly mistakes and how you can fix them in order to get ahead of your competition.”
Times….they are a changin’.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard some of the doom and gloom that’s been rumbling in our industry. And although the photo industry is different than it used to be, this isn’t necessarily bad news. The photographers who are able to successfully navigate the changing industry landscape are still running successful businesses and have adapted to ensure that their business will still be around in the years to come. Whether you’re just jumping in and are new to the industry or you’re a seasoned pro, here are three essential skills that will help you succeed.…more Written by Katie Humphreys
Oxford School of Photography 