This post is part of a series that charts the history of photography since the 1900s. The series takes a decade-by-decade look at how the skills a photographer needs have changed in light of technological, economic, and societal change.

The ‘democratic’ medium

Back in 2012 Fox documented the rise of ‘vernacular’ photography, a term that is sometimes used pejoratively to denote how mainstream photography has become in the western developed world. The definition is fairly arbitrary and can encompass anything from wedding photography and travel to more mundane photographs of your lunch:

‘There are various interpretations of what is or isn’t vernacular photography. The most common perception is that vernacular photography is photography of the everyday: snapshots; wedding photography; industrial photography; high-street studio photography; train and plane spotters’ photographs, and so on. One of the wonderful things about photography is the fact that you can find it in so many different places; it is the most democratic medium in the sense that it is everywhere and almost everyone has access to use it. This is what makes vernacular photography such a fascinating and valuable research tool.’

(Fox, 2012)

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has also been making the news lately and has been impacting practically all aspects of our lives (chatbots, medical diagnostics, driverless cars – the list is endless), including photography. In a recent article in The Guardian, Chiles questions whether the era of AI photography has now dawned (Chiles, 2023). In the article Chiles laments the days when photography used to mean something concrete and provide certainty, whereas with AI generated images, everything is brought into question.  Historically, photographs have been used for propaganda and to ‘sell’ us a particular lifestyle through advertising, but AI has taken this to an entirely new level. An interesting case in point is the work of the German photographer Boris Eldagsen, whose entry to the Sony world photography awards was solely designed to provoke debate (Grierson, 2023).

In the image above, we see Eldagsen’s entry to the competition. Can you tell it is AI-generated? Eldagsen’s motivation for being a bit of a “cheeky monkey” (his words) by entering an AI-generated image were to provoke debate on what constitutes photography:

“We, the photo world, need an open discussion,” said Eldagsen. “A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter – or would this be a mistake?

(Grierson, 2023).

As far as AI is concerned, the debate is only just beginning but clearly, as far as the photographer’s skills are concerned, there is a need to be able to critically evaluate not only what we read on the internet, but also what we see.

Relevant Photography Skills in the 2000s and Beyond

• Critical thinking skills: As discussed above, especially in relation to AI, the internet brings with it a vast array of information and not all of it is reliable. A photographer conducting research using the internet has to be wary of taking things at face value without first questioning the source.

‘You need to keep in mind that the Internet is not always the most reliable resource for research. Ultimately, you need to attend talks and lectures, listen to radio and television programmes and go to exhibitions to find out about photographers and their work.’

(Fox, 2012).

It’s important to use a range of sources in order to get a more rounded picture of the subject and minimise bias from any one source.

Fox (2012) advocates galleries, exhibitions, magazines, and books as viable sources for research too. Understanding different media types, as well as digital media, and how to access them is a key skill for photographers.

• Bookmarking useful sources: There is a plethora of information out there and being able to manage that information effectively is a key skill for photographers. The internet provides us with access to images and research that previous generations could have only seen by visiting exhibitions or by buying magazines or books. However, the volume of information available to the photographer also presents challenges in evaluating and organising that knowledge. Fox (2012) provides tips when it comes to digital information:

‘If you find a useful website and want to revisit it at a later date, add it to your browser’s bookmarks or favourites directory. Creating bookmarks of frequently visited websites saves you time and prevents you from forgetting potentially useful sources. Organizing your bookmarks will make your time on the Web more efficient and, over time, will create a digitized personal research directory. It is vital to be as organized as possible and to make sure that you have archived the material you need in a way that makes it easy to retrieve.’

(Fox, 2012).

This is a skill that comes under the broader skill of ‘research’ and increased in importance from the 1990s onwards, as the internet became more enmeshed with our daily lives.

Enjoying the series? Explore other posts on the timeline.

References

Fox, A. and N. Caruana (2012) ‘Chapter 1: Planning’ in Fox, A. and N. Caruana Basics Creative 

Grierson, J. (2023). ‘Photographer admits prize-winning image was AI-generated.’ In The Guardian [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/17/photographer-admits-prize-winning-image-was-ai-generated [Accessed 4th July 2023].