The question is not so much whether this is a good thing for society (or a bad thing for photographers). It is happening, a billion times a day, and there is no going back.
The question is: How does the photographic community harness this explosion of visual energy to expand its audience? This is what needs to be focused on.
I think this is spot on. The piece says “access to pens and paper hasn’t produced thousands of Shakespeares or Nabokovs, this explosion of camera phones doesn’t seem to have led to more Dorothea Langes or Henri Cartier-Bressons.” That’s true and I agree, it isn’t that we don’t have more professional photographers, but I think digital photography has expanded where potential professional photographers and new eyes come from.
In an Age of Likes, Commonplace Images Prevail
By JAMES ESTRIN
