Generation of emblematic photography entails more than simply capturing a scene with a camera.
Ever since photography was born up till now, we have had what we refer to as Traditional and
modern photography. These differ in terms of cost, image quality, convenience aspects, shelf life
and storage of photo as well as privacy concern.
Traditional photography, normally reflects film photography or the brownie format which
markedly, started as a science. Using light, and some authentic chemicals, it was found that the
world could be documented. Once this science was refined, creativity emerge out, linking it to
artistic creation. From that moment, traditional photography, not necessarily holding profound
meanings, marks things like extensive landscapes, still life images, portraiture that showcase
beautiful subjects in an artistic way by adhering to strict artistic guidelines. It should be noted
that traditional cameras bear only limited, 36 frames on a roll of film and in case of need the roll
had to be changed and so on. These rolls were developed and printed typically in the darkroom
which required lots of skills and precision work.
Modern photography is really where we start to see the deeper meanings behind the imagery.
You will find scenes of great beauty, but they are often arranged to make you think about more
than the scenery that you are looking at. There is also a lot of abstraction, and experimenting
effects that add to the photo. In the second half of the 20th century, it encompasses a variety of
themes, conceptual ideas, often features surrealism, expressionism. We began seeing the
underlying meanings behind the pictures in modern photography. Scenes of tremendous beauty,
frequently structured to make you ponder about anything other than just the scenery you are
viewing, could be found. There's also a lot of abstraction and experimentations with various
techniques to enhance the photo. It encompasses a variety of subjects, philosophical ideas, and
frequently features surrealism and expressionism that surged in the second half of the twentieth
century.
The difference lies in the modern cameras itself. These cameras are manipulated to take
advantage of lighting, lighting equipment, and the result of their work with the subject(s) or
object(s) could be seen instantly. Besides, the camera allows continuous shooting as well as
instant deletion of bad images, until the camera runs out of battery power or space on the
memory card. Next, the images are transferred to a media including digital device, cloud,
websites etc. The images transferred are enhanced, transformed by the addition of various effects
to provide a meaning of the work that you are producing. Markedly, these could be duplicated.
Similarly, Noah Kalina, an American art photographer, began taking a photo of himself every day
starting on January 11, 2000, at age 19. This idea originated when Noah was glimpsing at
snapshots of himself, taken at high school period. It is then that he realized that there have been
some drastic changes in himself that he missed noticing. Subsequently, he decided to photograph
himself, every day. This is ought to be a long-term project that he will be onto, until he dies. The
original idea was a photo project, in around 2002, he posted his still and emotionless
photographs on a website (around 2002). Then by watching a timelapse video, he got the idea of
compiling his photos to illuminate the message behind his photographs. In his second attempt,
he generated a timelapse video, enclosing thousands of his picture spanning a period of six years.
This video, entitled Everyday was released in August 2006 and became a viral video. Recently, on
January 11, 2020, two decades after he first started the project, Kalina updated the video which
again, went viral.
Through his photographs, he captured the ephemeral that shall help him remember moments he
would have forgotten otherwise – this is the reason behind most common people photography.
For him, these photographs, holding each some kind of moment and story, acted as pages of the
most perfect lifelong diary. For him, but mostly for other viewers, this project demonstrated the
passage of time, showing the aging of a human. It somehow forced people to confront their own
mortality, made people realize how life ultimately ends. The ongoing art project gained
widespread attention. But, when he first published the still photographs in around 2002, 90% of
people reacted negatively, they hated it. People interpreted Noah as being self-obsessed. This is
because nobody understood the concept or let’s assume still photo was not the right method of
conveying Noah’s message. However, once the images were converted into a time-lapse (2006),
people’s opinion totally flipped as it was easier to see and interprete the message of what is really
going on in the time-lapse. People appreciated Noah’s dedication to daily take a shot. Overall, as
already stated above, it forced people to confront their own mortality.
Nevertheless, this unfamiliar, unique idea, ought to at some point pass through negative
criticism, emerged and was pursued by someone who took the courage to do so. The
photographer did not have the most elite human being behind the camera, with all his
insecurities, he himself had to justify his project saying it was just for “practice.” To emphasize,
the latter only desired to be a photographer, and he believed that continuous, ‘every day’ effort,
photography, even if it’s only photographing himself shall help him get better. For some reason
he felt like it was helping. Today, among his various project that gained value, ‘Everyday’ hold a
deep meaning in the word of artists, photography and also human being who are meant to grow,
age and ultimately die.
All types of photography are valuable. They always impart something unique. You may not be
dictated by the trends of the art world; you shall enjoy and appreciate your taste. For sure your
uniqueness will somehow mark its place in some people’s life.