Ken Rockwell wrote a very provocative critique against the modern way to think about photography. I found that part really interesting:
“It’s obvious looking back at old magazines that the only thing that mattered was getting to the right place at the right time to take a picture of the right thing, and the choice of developer and wash treatments, 90% of what the magazines went off about, was irrelevant.
Today, its the same thing. Magazines go off about how to “fix” your pictures in your computer, but let’s face it: the only way to fix them is, as always, get to the right place at the right time and see the right picture before you press the shutter.
If you waste your time making 3,600 exposures from the same place to stitch in four dimensions, it doesn’t matter how much spatial (gigapan and pan-focus) or luminous (HDR) range or resolution you have, if it’s a picture of something boring.
If it sucks, who cares if it’s GPS geotagged? If it’s great, it’s because of the lighting and timing, which has nothing to do with the location. ”
Read the article at http://kenrockwell.com/tech/death-of-photography.htm and let me know what you think.
10 Responses
Thanks for sharing, Ale. He has a very good point.
I’m currently spend REALLY TOO MUCH time on the internet and have a big pile of images sitting uselessly in my harddrive.
Thanks for sharing, but I care zero point zero about K. R. opinions, reviews etc.
I just lost a little respect for 43rumors.com for quoting Ken Rockwell.
Hi Jason! it is always interesting to see how Ken Rockwell can polarize the photographic world. Why should you loose respect? It is only a opinion that you can agree or not. It has nothing to do with respect.
Cheers
KR’s articles are notorious for being crippled with empty if not downright fallacious reasonings.
Yes Geotagging won’t turn a blown shot into a keeper. Glad to know.
Yet, that tells me nothing on whether it is a desirable feature or not.
Same for the rest of the quote.
KR simply gets too much attention.
Uhh.. starts rambling, skips 50 years and then nosedives into talking about porn?
Go buy whatever you want or use whatever you have and go take pictures and have fun people. And make sure you get plenty of grandma and grampa before they die and plenty of the kids before they grow up too 🙂
KR seems to be one of those people who likes to drop bombshells. That’s cool, but he dropped one huge dud recently, saying that the digital age was over, and photographers are “Flooding” back to film.
Sure, Ken, sure.
Let’s just ignore him and get back to what photography is all about: Taking photographs. Does it matter if it’s digital or film, or a glass plate? Does it matter if you use software or chemicals? (Actually that does matter: Chemicals could harm the environment). Does it matter if you use a DSLR or some new take on it like the GH1? If you take a good picture, hooray for you, whether it’s with a disposable camera from Target, an $8000 Nikon, or something in between. Why should we criticize each other for enjoying this wonderful hobby/art/business in whatever way we can?
As usual Ken tries to make a profound statement of a hackneyed subject.
@Ken…magazines print how to “fix” your picture stories because it sells magazines! Free market, Ken, just like your website!
However, his best point bears repeating…
It’s not the camera, but the loose nut behind the camera that makes a good image.
Too many new photographers are hung up on finding the “perfect” camera. Eventually most of us grow out of that phase!
I like Ken Rockwell. He is very opinionated and is not afraid to state his mind. he’s not the greatest writer in the world, but i think that he is very entertaining, and knows of what he speaks.
He has been making the same argument for years:
Photographers should spend their time taking pictures, not worrying about the latest technology.
I’ve learnt a lot from Ken Rockwell’s articles. I don’t always agree with him, but the point is that his controversial comments stimulate people to think – and that is a good thing!