Pictures Too Plentiful for Purpose (Editorial)
More stories from Kenny Brenizer
While it may be easier to take photos now than ever before, have we lost sight of the value and beauty of a photograph?
Pictures are becoming too plentiful to be as meaningful as they once were, as it is now much easier to take them in large amounts and on the spur of the momebnt. This makes taking the pictures much easier, which means we take more pictures and they start to lose their meaning.
Cameras have increased in quality. They have faster shutter speed, better resolution, and many more added features that older cameras don’t have. The red eye effect was also a bigger problem in older photos, while newer models of the same camera have red eye reduction.
Since we have these better cameras that take better pictures, we naturally take more pictures because they turn out better. There’s also the rise of smartphones which brought on the mass of selfies.
Social media sites are built around people’s need to share their photos with the world. Every second, around 8,796 pictures are shared on Snapchat alone. In 2013, Facebook wrote that people uploaded 350 million images to Facebook each day. There are too many sites to name, though a few others are Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest.
It makes sense that people want to share their pictures, but they’re losing their meaning quickly. A well-taken picture used to be harder to come by and more difficult to take. A group photo used to require a tri-pod and a timer; now there are selfie sticks that only take half the time and effort.
Photos can turn out better now, but the meaning behind the picture is being lost. Before digital cameras, photographers had to make sure they got every detail correct before taking the photo. A lot of work went into making sure it came out the right way. Nowadays, anyone can pick up an iPhone, hold down one button and take as many photos in a row as they want.
Less work is going into the photos we take, and the meaning and beauty behind them is lost. Is the passion for photography lost as well?
Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2015-2016 Periscope staff, CHS Administration, or the CHS student body
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Kenny Brenizer is a junior and the perspectives editor for the 2016-2017 Periscope staff. She does no sports. She has no hobbies. She just wants cats and...
MacKenzie Stine • Mar 17, 2016 at 9:06 am
I find that there are so many pictures that I don’t know what to do with. I often also have duplicates of photos or the same event. I’m not sure they’re necessarily losing their meaning and importance, but pictures are losing their rarity. I find that we really don’t have picture places (ex. The Picture People) like we used to go to when I was little because everyone can do it themselves. It is kind of sad.
Selena Marks • Mar 16, 2016 at 7:28 am
I don’t think the meaning behind a picture is gone. I know all the pictures in my phone hold meaning and memories. You cant ever relive that that exact moment again, but a picture helps to capture it so you still have that one piece of the memory that you can always look back on. I think pictures taken from a phone don’t match up to a professional’s because they know how to make it better and look professional rather than an iphone’s camera.
Micaela Moffatt • Mar 7, 2016 at 1:39 pm
I think that I have over 1,000 pictures on my phone and I more than likely will not do anything with 90% of them, but I also cannot delete any of them. They all have some sort of meaning or memory that I want to keep, even if I do not use them for anything.