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I would like to suggest that these images are not photographs within the strict meaning of the word until they have been converted into some tangible form; a paper print, a slide or any solid format.
Some may debate the use of the word "photos" and prefer "images," but in any case, this is a wild number.
I’ve wrestled with this explosion of image making. With numbers like these, it almost evokes a sense of what’s the point? Why create one more image when over 5.3 billion have been taken today alone?
Yet, I still find myself undeterred by this level of global output. In some ways, it has made me turn inward and embrace photography as something far more personal. The act of photographing becomes more singular and meditative, fulfilling to me, with no concern for recognition.
Excluding professionals, do you think, given this sheer volume, photography is becoming more competitive or more personal?
You can count all you want, it just doesn't make any difference.
What do you expect will happen? We philosophize a bit, redefine the scope so it's more narrow and then we all decide that the annual production of true, proper photos in our sense is only a couple of dozen, so hey, we get to stand out in the crowd (or whatever positive thing there supposedly is to the number being smaller)? I think @Sean asks an interesting question: what the massive number of images/photos/pixelmaps being produced means for our personal motivations. The methodological side is a sideshow at best.
A few more stats, although I can't vouch for the accuracy:
As of 2025, approximately 1.3 billion images are shared on Instagram every day.
As of 2025, approximately 350 million photos are uploaded to Facebook each day.
As of 2024, Flickr users upload approximately 25 million photos per day
I would like to suggest that these images are not photographs within the strict meaning of the word until they have been converted into some tangible form; a paper print, a slide or any solid format.
The saddest thing is the vast majority are simply glanced at...maybe posted somewhere. Then forgotten. Due to sheer volume I know there's some good stuff out there never seen.
The 5 billion number must be an estimate. There's no way of knowing the actual number. The estimate seems quite plausible however - considering that the world population is something like 8 billion. If one quarter of the world population owns a smart phone and takes, on average, 3 photos a day... that's roughly 6 million right there.
The Instagram number is more interesting as this is, presumably, well know by the company - not an estimate but the actual number. It is kinda mind boggling that on average, people are making 1.3 billion photos each day that they feel are "good enough" to post on their instagram. Kinda dilutes the value of a photo.
...and I still don't "get" instgram ... although it makes somewhat more sense to me than twitter.
My perspective: En masse, things tend to flatten out a bit, it is like inflation... The upside of that is that people really appreciate if they see a really really good photograph. The downside is, that it is getting much harder for people to discover those really really good photographs....
btw., the same question was raised when Kodak introduced their Box ('you press the button, we do the rest') in the late 19th century....
Does it really matter how a picture was taken?
I am 74. I have owned a camera since I was 9 or 10, and have considered myself a photographer since I took money for shooting weddings as a way to finance my university education. I am not a professional, although I have gotten paid for things along the way post college.
Sean’s question struck a nerve with me. As to the more competitive or more personal part of the original question: it’s personal!
Several years, ago, I looked back at my photographs: all of the landscapes, architectural, events, etc., and decided that I did not “need” to take any of those types of pictures again. I still make them, but do not need to. If I am someplace photogenic and I have a camera, of course I will make a photograph. But, what I need to do is go into my make-shift studio and create photographs that I already envision. I haven’t reached the level I want yet, but working on it. So, my photography, post digital transition, has gotten a lot more personal.
I was a member of the usual camera clubs decades ago, but quit because it was all competition focused, and I didn’t care for that. I still do not care for it, but have rejoined the local club (after more than 20 years) yet do not compete. I’m there for the field trips, the (non-competition) “slide” shows, and the food!
Ironically, the images at the camera club are a lot better; I mean, a lot better than decades ago. Some of these photographers are arguably better than me, but I do not compete with them, either in real life or in my mind. Digital has facilitated these enthusiastic amateurs to more easily cull from their 1000’s of images to come up with the good ones for display. It is easier for them to produce presentable work with software than when they had to rely on their limited darkrooms or simply projecting their naked slides.
There is an Avedon exhibit currently showing at the Amon Carter Museum of “In the American West”. The collection consists of 124 prints by Avedon made over several years, and culled from 17,000 negatives. Honestly, if I had shot monochrome film at this rate, my “keepers” would be much higher!
I don’t worry about the billions of snapshots taken. They’re personal, too, and evaporate quickly. I do my work, and have recently embarked on a project to create a series of portfolios (yes, of prints) as my own retrospective if you will. Very few people will ever see them, but they will exist.
Oh, and I do have a website and am on Instagram …
I like this viewpoint, and mostly the excess of pictures does not concern me, well, except that I also indulge and it's storage space.Sean’s question struck a nerve with me. As to the more competitive or more personal part of the original question: it’s personal!
Several years, ago, I looked back at my photographs: all of the landscapes, architectural, events, etc., and decided that I did not “need” to take any of those types of pictures again. I still make them, but do not need to.
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