for all those folks that say photography is dead, that its all be done, nothings ....

[removed account4]

interesting, they certainly haven't been looking around with their eyes open.
i look at shop windows, cafés, local art galleries ( and i am sure wherever you might be there are some of these places too )
and some of them have photographs up and there is always something there that catches my eye.
i'll poke around the inter web, go to a variety of websites and there is always something there that makes me stop and keep looking.
im not really sure what it is, if it is a film revival, if it is an alt process renaissance, if it is people using their digital cameras to do more than
photograph their 1 year old covered with chocolate cake and showing us all their daily data stream, but something is going on.

maybe ive been bored, blind to it all, not looking, not noticing, but as special agent moulder might say "i want to believe" ..
and i do.

if you find interesting websites full of photographs, pintrest walls, hidden places please post the links here, its nice to be pointed in the right direction, too.

 

[rowghani]

Hi John I just went on your website and really liked your stuff. thank you.

 

[removed account4]

hey rowghani !

thanks for the kind words, you are nice

best
john

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Where some folks who are dead, but walking and even talking. Everything else around seems to be dead for them.
If anyone still alive and have imagination, photography could be seen on Flickr.com. Just have to walk with brain and eyes open where, just as everywhere OP has mentioned.

Heck! Where is plenty of fog on the mirror in the local galleries.

 

[removed account4]

lluvmycam you are right, there is ALWAYS a need to document, that's what we do,
whether we are making a snappy, a prestegious, landworks, people in their decadant environment &c
maybe it is competition people trying to outdo others, but i think it is more than that, maybe
that photography is coming into its own more and more as every year passes. people are getting less hung up on
old world ( old school ? ) values and doing their own thing and having a good time ..
ko.fe, yeah a lot of people wear blinders, they like what they do whether it is in some sort of zombie - tv- comic book revivalist setting or a fancy museum / gallery
i agree, flickr is full of eye -opening, and fun, other places too, like ipernety,etsy and regular folks hunting and gathering fun-stuff for their pintrest account.
the portraits &c over at thelightfarm are really an inspiration, as are things randomly found in the blog-a-sphere, and fracture and alt process.com and ...

lots to feast the mind on .. we just have to see it ..

 

[Alan Klein]

I was visiting Florida and stopped by Clyde Butcher's gallery in Venice, FL. He does his printing, developing shipping etc there. Quite an operation. Very busy. It's wonderful to see 6' and 7' BW prints of Big Cypress swamps and the Everglades and other areas. His staff was quite busy shipping, spotting etc. HE ships photos, framed, books, calendars, etc all in BW. http://www.clydebutcher.com/

 

[Eric Rose]

I don't feel anyone is saying "photography" is dead. They might be saying film is dead, which of course we know it's not. What might be dead or at least gasping for breath is "artistic" photography. Lots of kiddy and cat pics. Nothing wrong with that, it's always been the vast majority of photos taken. It's nice to see people are exploring the boundaries of photography with digital technology, things that could never be done with film or at least not easily. What concerns me is the lack of progress in the expression of the photographic art in the film arena. Not that there isn't wonderful imagery being made, but for the most part (with some notable exceptions) it's just a rehash of the f64 ethos with some alt stuff thrown in.

 

[bsdunek]

Actually, if you count cell phone cameras, there is probably more photography than ever before. Now, that's using photography in it's root, as in "writing with light". I'm not saying it's good photography, and probably less prints are being made these days. Maybe the question should be: Is print making and displaying dead?

 

[blansky]

Pictures are like people.

To an alien coming here we all look pretty much the same with a couple of variations.

But a closer look everyone is unique.

The same with pictures. It's all been done before but it's all new and different.

 

[cliveh]

The death of film photography for the vernacular allows it to sit as a special artistic media in its own right and about time to.

 

[pdeeh]

about time to what?

 

[cliveh]

about time to what?

For it to sit as a special artistic media in its own right.

 

[pdeeh]

Hmm

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

You know, so what? So what if it's all been done to death. That's very much like the argument many photographers advance about "there's no good pictures to be made in my own backyard- I must travel to exotic places to take good pictures". If the pictures you're making of trees, rocks, cars, buildings, birds, whatever, are looking the same as everyone else's, it's not for fault of the subject matter- it's a lack of creative vision and communication skills on the part of the camera operator.

 

[Eric Rose]

So true.

You know, so what? So what if it's all been done to death. That's very much like the argument many photographers advance about "there's no good pictures to be made in my own backyard- I must travel to exotic places to take good pictures". If the pictures you're making of trees, rocks, cars, buildings, birds, whatever, are looking the same as everyone else's, it's not for fault of the subject matter- it's a lack of creative vision and communication skills on the part of the camera operator.

 

[cliveh]

You know, so what? So what if it's all been done to death. That's very much like the argument many photographers advance about "there's no good pictures to be made in my own backyard- I must travel to exotic places to take good pictures". If the pictures you're making of trees, rocks, cars, buildings, birds, whatever, are looking the same as everyone else's, it's not for fault of the subject matter- it's a lack of creative vision and communication skills on the part of the camera operator.

+1

 

[jeffreythree]

I don't think photography is dead. Maybe it is creativity that is? I know a lot of people that try to emulate other works only on trips and wonder why I haul a camera around my neighborhood. It is the same with my relatives' fascination with pinterest crafts, but never sitting down and making something on their own. It easier to follow in another's footsteps than strike out on your own.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I do not emulate other photographer. I do learn what they have done and see if it will be useful to adapt that for some photographs,

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Photography isn't dead. More photographs are made today than ever before. What is dead is making money from photographs.

 

[removed account4]

I don't think photography is dead. Maybe it is creativity that is? I know a lot of people that try to emulate other works only on trips and wonder why I haul a camera around my neighborhood. It is the same with my relatives' fascination with pinterest crafts, but never sitting down and making something on their own. It easier to follow in another's footsteps than strike out on your own.

IDK
people emulating people, they are still making stuff
( or watching to fill the void of not being able to do it oneself )
there really isn't anything new anyways, its all recycled.
people might say " oh you are wrong, i see things differently, if i set the camera up
and adjust the DOF and perspective and how much of this and that, and then
develop the film a certain way, with a special developer and way of agitating
and then translate that negative into a evocative masterpiece it hasn't been done before as i did it ."
but it sort of the same as something else that gave the inspiration to make it ... and it really doesn't matter
because the person who made it is having a good time
i see creative photography all the time, people tweaking stuff, doing something different off the main road, its great ...

Photography isn't dead. More photographs are made today than ever before. What is dead is making money from photographs.

maybe this is true, but i'm guessing ( poorly of course ) that selling photographs has always been a tough gig.

 

[DREW WILEY]

People have been saying that for a long time. In fact, entire generations of people complaining that "it's all been done and over with" are now themselves dead and over with. Just ignore it. It's all been SAID before.

 

[Sirius Glass]

People have been saying that for a long time. In fact, entire generations of people complaining that "it's all been done and over with" are now themselves dead and over with. Just ignore it. It's all been SAID before.

Sometimes people start threads just so that they can draw attention to themselves.

 

[Luckless]

What is dead is making money from photographs.

What is dead is the idea that you can buy a camera, learn to use it reasonably well, put up a sign, and then still make money from Photography.

There are lots of people making a LOT of money from photography in this world, because despite what many people online will tell you it is still an important profession, and some clients are still willing to pay top dollar for specific work. It takes time, effort, and frequently lots of money to get strong and reliable returns from photography as a business, and excellent networking is key to actually getting the work.

If you are doing something that anyone who goes out and buys themselves the newest entry level dSLR and practices for a few months can do, then you're not in a great spot to really market yourself as something worth spending money on. However, if you're set up in a technical or highly specialized field? Well I've met one guy who is making a multimillion dollar company out of photographing radiation contaminated sites with a crew of three people working a few weeks of the year.

Money in photograph is out there, and at times tons of it, but no one is getting a dime of it for sitting on their couch instead of going out hunting for it.

 

[Arklatexian]

What is dead is the idea that you can buy a camera, learn to use it reasonably well, put up a sign, and then still make money from Photography.

There are lots of people making a LOT of money from photography in this world, because despite what many people online will tell you it is still an important profession, and some clients are still willing to pay top dollar for specific work. It takes time, effort, and frequently lots of money to get strong and reliable returns from photography as a business, and excellent networking is key to actually getting the work.

If you are doing something that anyone who goes out and buys themselves the newest entry level dSLR and practices for a few months can do, then you're not in a great spot to really market yourself as something worth spending money on. However, if you're set up in a technical or highly specialized field? Well I've met one guy who is making a multimillion dollar company out of photographing radiation contaminated sites with a crew of three people working a few weeks of the year.

Money in photograph is out there, and at times tons of it, but no one is getting a dime of it for sitting on their couch instead of going out hunting for it.

As a professional photographer friend of mine who is dead now once said: "if you love doing photography and want to do professional photography, you will find a way to make money with it". I found he was correct, not only about photography but just about any other commercial endeavor. I am sure this makes me seem out of touch but if so, I assure you, I am not. His words have been proven true to me many times......regards!