It's a Snap: The Future of Photography

City of Ottawa Archives

It’s a Snap: The Future

John D. Lund, 2011

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/


Post-Photography

“ … now we must see it for what it has always been, the image

within the f lows and exchanges that give the images access,

meaning, and contex t .”

Aric M ayer, On Post -Photography, June 28, 2010


Corinne Vionnet, featured in From Here On, finds

photos of tourist cities and sites on photo-sharing

sites on the web, and layers one on top of the other

resulting in an impressionistic photo-painting;

Each image contains about a hundred images taken

from photo-hosting websites.

Post-Photography

From Here On exhibit manifesto begins, “Now, we‟re a series of

editors. We all recycle, clip and cut, remix and upload. We can

make images do anything. All we need is an eye, a brain, a camera,

a phone, a laptop, a scanner, a point of view.”

Democratization - Death of the Original


Corinne Vionnet, http://www.corinnevionnet.com/site/1-photo-opportunities.html

Post-Photography

http://www.corinnevionnet.com/site/1-photo-opportunities.html






Who is the photographer/the artist?

What is an original? Does the original have value anymore?

Photo-layering, Mash-ups

Post-Photography


Fontcuberta prioritizes not the methods of

communication but the accessibility of images to

everyone,

“We are therefore passing through an age of

access….”

Joan Fontcuberta on future of photography

Post-Photography


Fontcuberta outlines 10 points on the future of

photography, here are 4 of those points:

ON THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST: no longer a case of producing

works, but of prescribing meanings;

ON THE FUNCTION OF IMAGES: the circulation and management

of the image will prevail over the content of the image;

ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART: discourses of originality will be

delegitimized and appropriationist practices will be normalized;

ON THE EXPERIENCE OF ART: creative practices which

accustom us to dispossession will be privileged: it is better to share

than to own.

Joan Fontcuberta on future of photography

Post-Photography


In the past the public mind focused on the individual

photographer risking life for the iconic war

photograph yet behind that photograph were

publishers, news rooms, and fiscal realities:

“Which meant that the canon that we understand to be the

history of photography was largely shaped by these

structural and economic forces, and continue to be shaped

by them today.” (Aric mayer, On Post-Photography June 28, 2010)

However, technological advances have brought much more

of the entire sphere under the control of the creators, now a film can be made with a camera and a laptop.

Greater control in hands of the Creator

Post-Photography


Will greater control in hands of a creator benefit archives?

Will archivist see more voices/perspectives preserved?

The role of the archives is to ensure authenticity, but how will an authentic record be defined amid the plethora of images and photo sharing, democratized distribution?

Questions for the Archivist

Post-Photography


“Right. I talked to Joao Silva in Baghdad and I said,

“Do you think there are any great images to come out

of Iraq, the way there were in Vietnam.” And he said,

“The problem isn‟t that we haven‟t taken that classic

image. The problem is that we have taken too many.” - Michael Kamber in conversation with Tim Hetherington, creator

of Restrepo

Information Overload

Post-Photography


Will what archives are able to, or determine to, save become the iconic image for future generations?

Archivist may provide a voice of authority in the midst of the din.

At what point will the image be fixed?

Must the archivist move away from the role of custodian to one of a manager?

Post-photography in the Archives

Post-Photography


Photography is Social

“When you leave everything to the crowd, where everything is

democratized, when everything is determined by the number of clicks,

you are by definition undermining the seriousness of the artistic

endeavour,” he says, “There is no evidence that we are on the verge of

a great new glittering cultural age, there is evidence that we may well

be on the verge of a new dark age in cultural terms… where the

creative world is destroyed and where all we have is cacophony and

self opinion, where we have a crisis of democratised culture.”

- Andrew Keen speaking in film, PressPausePlay


To date digital cameras have emulated

traditional film photography rather than

transform:

On Oct 19, 2011 the Lytro camera was introduced to

the world;

Potentially a game changer;

It is a light field camera;

One to one relationship between pixels & micro lenses;

Focus after the fact, 3D potential;

No need for aperture or shutter speed;

Instant photo button – no time delay.


Social is driving the Tech


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDyRSYGcFVM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDyRSYGcFVM


The target market for the Lytro is not the enthusiast

or professional photographer, rather the social media

market, photo sharing:

Photographs are instant and can be uploaded to Facebook

or an iPhone;

Photographs are interactive, focus and key subjects may be

manipulated;

Images are relatively low resolution.




As Andy Crowe points out in a discussion forum on

Digital Photography Review:

The simple design of the camera, lack of controls and instant on, all point

to letting people take photos instantly so they don' t miss an important

moment.

This camera allows someone to quickly pull it out of a bag, take a shot

without waiting for focus or worrying about what part of the image to

focus on and then upload it to Facebook without doing any processing.

Once uploaded they and all their friends can play director by pulling

focus on different parts of the image in real time.




There are a plethora of photo applications

designed for the iPhone and Android OS, a

few examples:

Instagram (instagr.am) - a Hit Parade star;

Color (www.color.com) – a cautionary tale;

Waddle & ZangZing – some privacy please;

Photovine – so promising, yet DOA.

It’s All About the Apps


http://www.color.com/


Instagram



Instagram is probably the most successful photo app

to date, it is available for the iPhone and Android

users wait in anticipation:

Kevin Systrom, one of the creators of Instagram, argues that

unlike 90% of apps that are solution-based, they set out to

solve a problem;

The three key problems that Instagram sought to solve were:

- Beauty – aesthetically pleasing and simple design;

- Speed – designed for the iPhone, 612 x 612 resolution,

upload time masked by starting immediately, before any

tagging activity starts;

- Distribution – seamless social integration with sites like

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, FourSquare and Tumblr;




Lots of excitement around Color back in

March, 2011 when it was known that investor,

Bill Nguyen, had invested $41 million;

With Color there is no need for accounts, friending, following,

uploading or sharing; you simply take the picture;

Take a photo using the app and it is instantly available to

anyone to view within 150 feet of your location;

Elastic Network – prioritizes by strength of connection to

contacts;

Only see stream of photos from those within 150 feet of you

or a 150 feet of your friends/contacts. Without a built

network of friends one is either looking at nothing or a

stream of photos from strangers.




Color required a statistically significant percentage of

people to participate and there were considerable

privacy concerns:

By September of 2011 Color made a last ditch effort of

relevance by switching gears to become a Facebook

photo/video app;

Without the real time interface there is little to distinguish

Color from other Facebook photo browsers.




With all the socializing going on, it is not surprising

that some folks are calling for a little privacy. Waddle

and ZangZing are two apps responding to this

market: ZangZing launched April 2011, Waddle launched October 2011;

Waddle emphasizes privacy concerns, “A waddle is a mobile photo journal

where groups capture experiences together. Private, instant, conversational,

memorable and super fun.” – waddleapp.com;

ZangZing emphasises its group photo sharing features, for which, privacy is

a featured component. See video at www.zangzing.com;

Waddle co-founder, Parker Emmott, indicated that while the number of

photos being taken has exploded, “… that most sharing was still done

through either direct text messaging or emailing photos to a group.” Not

photo sharing apps.



http://www.zangzing.com/


Waddle:

“It doesn‟t force you to log in with your Facebook account. It

doesn‟t pull in the photos you‟ve shared on Instagram. It

doesn‟t encourage you to share your photos publicly at all.

In fact, its goal is to allow you to privately share and

comment on your photos with other individuals, or small

groups of friends and family. That‟s it.” – Colleen Taylor




July, 2013 Google unveils Photovine a new

photo-sharing social network (by invitation)

Aug 26, 2011 – “Google Kills Photovine”:

Photovine had debut only a week earlier for the

general public;

One Twitter member, Gayle Schneider,

commented, “Why are they shutting down

Photovine? It just became popular?”;

Speaking of twitter, pic.twitter.com, soft

launch July 2011, available to all Aug 2011.




Archives in the future will likely need to expect to receive low resolution quality digital photos well below the ideal.

Do we need to re-evaluate what constitutes archival quality?

When it comes to apps, do archives need to preserve the content, the software and/or the social environment?




100% Mobile: “my iPhone 4 phone is always with me…”;

Geolocation: An iPhone always has access to it‟s GPS;

100% Instant: Instant now means that directly after a

photo is taken it can be disseminated to the world

immediately:

Done directly from iPhone;

Videos edited, shared or uploaded to YouTube;

My iPhone 4 is killing my Digital Cameras

- Guerson Meyer, Feb 20, 2011



Social: iPhone photos can be instantly shared with friends

or the entire world. Half the fun is discovering new and

cool pics from friends and strangers alike via the web;

Software: “The iPhone 4 is not a telephone, not a camera

but a powerful super-mini-computer…”





How will archivist respond to this paradigm shift – instant photography as the primary way of visualizing the world?

Lee Morris – fstoppers – fashion shoot with an iphone _




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoGjtSy7xY








Lomography: www.lomography.com Diana f+

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielygo/2576920796/

Everything Old is New Again


http://www.lomography.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielygo/2576920796/


Lomography, 10 Golden Rules: 1. Take your camera everywhere you go;

2. Use it any time – day and night;

3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it;

4. Try the shot from the hip;

5. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close

as possible;

6. Don't think (William Firebrace);

7. Be fast;

8. You don't have to know beforehand what you captured on film;

9. Afterwards either;

10. Don't worry about any rules.




Polaroid:

http:/ / www.wiissa.com/ #1881553/ mongolia;

Fuji:

http:/ / www.fujifilm.ca/ products/ instax/ index.html;

The impossible project: http:/ / www.the-impossible-

project.com/ about/ #team.



http://www.wiissa.com/

http://www.fujifilm.ca/products/instax/index.html

http://www.the-impossible-project.com/about/






As Archives adapt to new digital formats they cannot forget the analogue formats.




Many, many, photo sharing websites to choose from:

A quick google will find a variety of overlapping top ten lists;

What to look for? What is your goal?

Is your intention to share photos among friends and family?

Do you wish to share your photos with fellow enthusiasts?

Is the goal simply to reach as many people as possible?

Are you looking to expand your business by having a web

presence? (Sell photos, mugs, t-shirts, books, etc)?

How flexible is the interface? Are you stuck with the same

look and feel as everyone else? Ads?

Cost?

Where do I go to share?



A good all round source for digital photography is

DPReview (Digital Photography Review)

www.dpreview.com/:

In my search, three common denominators in the discussion

groups were:

- SmugMug, PBase and Zenfolio;

- They are certainly not the only suggestions but they have

a number of supporters;

Flickr by far is the most popular;

Please see hand out for a more detailed list.



http://www.dpreview.com/


Do archivist need to consider the context in which digital images are shared - the software, the apps, the web platforms? The social environment?




Future Tech


The Future of Photography

– a little future storytelling

“Though Photos will still be composed by people with cameras,

it will gradually become more accurate to say pictures were

computed rather than „taken‟ or „captured.‟”

- Neal Mathews

Wireless Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens

Consumer Electronics Show 2011

Future Tech

Digitization

http://nealmatthews.com/Documents/PP_0809_Future.pdf






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb4MlQdGP2M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgBl0ejQ8c0


Photo Organization


Services, such as, Gmail and Yahoo have led

us to become accustomed to our data piling

up endlessly;

Software like Picassa will find an image file

anywhere on a hard drive, there is no need to

know where it is;

But Picassa only cares that it is an image file, all

are equal;

There is no discernment of importance or priority;

Software may be corrupted, in what folder were

those photographs stored?

Organization 101

Photo Organization


It is important to: Know where your photos are stored;

Identify your photos;

Back up, back up, back up;

Regularly migrate data

- Keep up with changing technologies.

“In the digital age, when we have opportunity to store hundreds

of thousands of images on one laptop or hard drive, things can

get pretty complicated to go back and try to find “that one picture

of Aunt Helen at Johnny‟s 6th birthday party.” Especially if you

don‟t have an established workflow and file handling system.”

- Christina N. Dickson

Organization 101

Photo Organization


Programs, such as, Picasa by google,

Aperture by Apple and Lightroom by Adobe

may provide great help in photo organization

but they are not solutions.

Organization 101

Photo Organization


Guiding Principles: Upload your images using a unique file name system

- Each image is distinct from any other;

- Don‟t rely on the numerical file name generated by your camera;

- Create a file name system that has meaning to you

- Example, Date, initials, image #: [20111031_JDL_0001.jpg];

Upload your images into dated folders [20111031]

- If you have more than one event or subject taken on the same

day sub-folders may be created under the name of each event or

subject.

- One option may be to identify sub-folders in accordance to event

and location;

Organization 101

Photo Organization


Guiding Principles cont‟d: Convert photos to a non-proprietary format:

- i.e., RAW to Tiff or jpeg (keep at least one copy in original

format);

Once images uploaded, go through and rate each image:

- Programs, such as, Lightroom have rating options;

- A “0 to 5” scale can be used: 0-1 get trashed, 2 get stored for

major editing later, 3-5 minor editing required & are ready to

show;

Keyword (Tag) your images:

- By name, event, action, emotion, etc;

Organization 101

Photo Organization


Guiding Principles cont‟d: Back up, back up, back up:

- Keys to good back up:

- Automatic – whether you do it manually or have an

automated system back ups need to be second nature;

- Local – first backup is easy and fast to restore, such as, an

external hard drive;

- Remote – in case of disaster, may store at work, at a

relatives or in the cloud (should be secure – encrypted);

Media Migration – will be necessary at least every 5-10

years:

- Technology changes;

- Technology fails.

Organization 101

Photo Organization


Metadata is data about data.

There are two kinds of metadata:

Descriptive (Technical) metadata describes

technical features, such as, the shutter speed at

which a photograph was shot;

Additive metadata is metadata that can be added

to an image file, such as, keywords (tags) and

copyright information.

Organization 101

Photo Organization


EXIF – Exchangeable Image File Format,

http://www.exif.org/

IPTC – International Press Telecommunication Council,

IPTC Photo Metadata Standards

IPTC: http://www.iptc.org/cms/site/index.html

Descriptive Metadata

Photo Organization

Additive Metadata

Adobe Bridge (bridge btwn creative suite software);

Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture (workflow).

http://www.exif.org/

IPTC-PhotoMetadata-201007.pdf

http://www.iptc.org/cms/site/index.html

http://www.adobe.com/products/xmp/


Example of metadata on Flickr:

www.flickr.com

Photo Organization

http://www.flickr.com/


Cloud Storage


Simply put it is offsite storage in the

hands of experts;

How often do you see one cloud?

Usually there are many;

Why store photos in a cloud?

How do you decide what vendor (cloud)

to use?

Cloud Storage

What is the cloud?


1. You get what you pay for: There are a variety of services that provide free or

cheap (under $10/month) back-up services;

They include a variety of features including

automated back-up;

Examples are, Mozy, CrashPlan, BackBlaze and

Carbonite;

However, if you are a business using a cheap

home service this is likely a breach of Terms of

Use and your account can be closed at any time.

Cloud Storage

What is the cloud?


1. cont‟d Services, such as, Mozy provide cheap service on

the speculation that their servers will be able to

support the demand as the low end users will

balance out with the high end users;

It is a gamble, in Mozy‟s case it didn‟t pan out and

they removed their $5 unlimited service.

Cloud Storage


We are magicians and have developed a spell that enables us

to store all the world‟s data in our invisibility cloak. Also – just

like Mozy – we calculate that everything will just sort of average

out. Anyway, we‟ve also conjured up some Terms of Service,

so when it all goes wrong we‟re covered, even if you‟re not.

Call yourself a professional photographer. Then those images

you uploaded are part of your business. We‟ve therefore

terminated your account and deleted your archive; you are of

course welcome to open a business account and pay for use

rather than piggybacking on our consumer offering, you cheap

bastard.

Cloud Storage

Terms of Service Translations by Jeremy Nicholl


2. What do you want to store?

Most online storage vendors were established to

support storing textual records, spreadsheets, etc

that have significantly smaller file sizes than

photographs;

These vendors have offered their services to

photographers as they have recognized a

demand;

However, they may only be suitable to low

resolution images, jpegs, point and shoot

photography or backing up the best of the best of

your photographs.

Cloud Storage


3. They are not a storage solution they

are a back-up solution:

Remember the back-up mantra, you want both

local back-up and remote back-up;

Do not rely on remote back-up alone.

Cloud Storage


4. There are multiple types of cloud

storage:

Public/community web-based cloud storage:

- Upload files via browser and files become instantly

available through a web-based interface. Examples

are Flickr and Smugmug;

- Downside, cannot upload RAW files and cannot

easily download all photos back to your computer.

Cloud Storage


4. Cloud storage types cont‟d:

Local/hybrid folder synchronization:

- A client is installed that monitors a specific folder on

your computer for changes. A new file is

automatically uploaded to the cloud through your

internet connection;

- Advantage – auto updates folder structure and old

versions of files maintained;

- Easily share files between computers,

family/friends;

- Examples, Dropbox, Livedrive and Live Mesh.

Cloud Storage


4. Cloud storage types cont‟d: Dedicated/private cloud storage:

- Buy as much space as you need and use however you

need;

- May manually upload files or install client software that

auto synchronizes specific folders on computer;

- Up to you if you wish to keep a local back-up or not;

- Space is yours, not shared with others like in Flickr;

- Many different companies, such as, Amazon;

- May require some technical skills to use efficiently;

- Depending on amount of storage required, may become

very expensive;

- Example of photographer friendly site, Mosaic Archive.

Cloud Storage


5. Bandwidth: If you plan to back-up large image files, such as,

RAW and TIFF or a large back catalogue, you will

require good upload bandwidth;

You will also want good download bandwidth, as

well, for restoring files in case of an emergency;

Check with your internet provider.

Cloud Storage


Mosaic, designed for photographers, key

features:

Avoids the incredibly long upload time required to

export 100s of gigabytes of image files to the

cloud by shipping an external hard drive that you

ship back with your image files:

- Yes, it is faster to snail mail your photos;

Validation – will automatically compare the files

they were sent and make sure they are byte for

byte the same files that are on your hard drive;

Provides a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom for

integration into your workflow, back-up, retrieval

seamless.

Cloud Storage


Key features of Mosaic:

It comes at a cost:

- One time data upload fee of $0.40 per GB

(includes two way shipment of the external hard

drive used to send your images;

- Rate fee decreases as more photo are stored;

- Mosaic pricing example: If a photographer

sends 1 TB (1,000 GB) of photos to Mosaic, the

charge would be a data upload fee of $400.

After the one time fee, a storage fee of $25 per

month applies.

Cloud Storage


Who shall care for the cloud over the long term?

What are the implications of international jurisdictions?

Have you considered your digital will? Spark Episode 35

Digitization

Archivist goes, “Hmmm?”

video/spark_20080430_5563.mp3

City of Ottawa Archives Questions?

Corinne Vionnet, http://www.corinnevionnet.com/site/1-photo-opportunities.html






Art & Photos

It's a Snap: The Future of Photography