Why Revive Photography
Fed 2 camera
Let’s zoom out and try to look at the current state of humanity from a high level.
Until the ’40s, ’50s and 60’s people were bold. They even dared to execute massive projects. Think of the first steps in space; bringing humans to the Moon and back safe; the creation of the Panama channel; the development of antibiotics & vaccines. All those projects were of significant importance for the development of humans that their impact is valid even today.
At the beginning of the 20th century, people were more optimistic about the future. Many welcomed the challenge of chasing hard goals in life. And the achievement of audacious dreams made people happy.
Fast forward to the 21st century. There aren’t any mega projects. Everything is given to people ready to use. Nobody needs to put in the extra effort. Humans focus on the consumption of goods & services as they are, the faster the better.
Gluttony is easy to see all around us, in fashion, food, content. People need constant entertainment. Do they? The list can go on and on.
Challenging big and hard to achieve goals is no longer welcomed.
And this has an impact on art and in particular on photography.
For the last 5+ years, people created an enormous amount of pictures using their phones - faster than ever. And then 99,9% of those pictures remained unseen.
What does all this mean?
Humans focus on three things - fast, now, as much as possible.
What if we can slow down and try to think or to give freedom to our inner voice?
Would it be possible to create pictures with a deeper meaning for us and others? Can it be that the art of making pictures can be a form of meditation?
What is the ONE thing you can do to achieve or be a step close to the above points?
-shoot manual. No auto-focus
Assignment
Shoot with 1x camera, 1x lens, 1x project, 1x location, manual (turn off the auto-focus), available light, 1x roll of film (for the analog photographers)