5 Reasons Why Photography Will Never Die
It’s a new trend to hear photographers whine about how bad the industry is doing and how limited the future of photography is. Everybody blames something else: the camera industry, the Sunday amateurs, Instagram, cheap DSLRs, editing software or others.
At one point or another you get tired of these apocalyptic prophecies. More sensitive photographers even consider calling it quits. Others laugh at these pessimistic views and enjoy whatever success they might have.
But let’s keep it real. Here are 5 realistic reasons why photography will never go away.
The Memories
People love their memories. For some, memories are the most valuable things they have and you can be sure they will do whatever they can to preserve the best times of their lives. Photography has the power to capture how you felt at some point and who doesn’t want to relive the good old days of their youth or feel the emotions from their wedding again?
It’s cool
Photography is just cool. Fifteen years ago when the shift to digital started happening, many people thought that was it for this medium. But it’s obvious to everyone that it’s never been more popular. Everybody knows at least one photographer nowadays. If you don’t know one, you probably know somebody who is thinking of becoming one, unless of course that someone is you.
And you can’t really say it’s a trend, or at least not a normal one. If this was a shallow trend, it should have been over years ago, yet everywhere I go and introduce myself as a photographer I keep hearing things like “So am I!” or “My brother in law is a photographer too”. So it’s probably going to be a few more years before you can add photography to the list of dying jobs.
It’s fun
Photography is fun. It has become a kind of fun that is being enjoyed by billions every day, via their trusty smartphones. People simply enjoy taking pictures and a lot of that has been achieved with the help of technology. Digital cameras are cool and they are becoming more and more awesome.
It’s simple
This is one thing that I don’t like about it and many see it as a cause for its future death. Photography has become simple. If you ask me (and most likely countless other pros out there) it’s too simple. But, unlike some might say, it’s not what’s going to kill it. It is what’s going to keep it alive. As long as every average suburban mom can take pretty pictures with her phone, photography is safe. It’s also takes a lot less work than video, and that’s probably one of the reasons why it’s more popular too.
It’s cheap
Buying a good camera has never been so affordable. The technology that is being put in today’s mirrorless cameras and entry level DSLRs is far more advanced than what most pro cameras had inside ten years ago. The image quality is there and everything is just effortless.
These are just a few rational reasons. There are more. It’s not just a matter of perspective. If photography was dying, so would the camera industry and I don’t see Canon or Nikon closing any doors.