Unexpected Impact of Migration to Cell Phone Photography

[alan_b]

When was the last time you saw a charity or group of publication ask a lawyer or a mechanic to provide services amounting to thousands of dollars for free or nearly so because "we don't have a budget for that - but we'll give you a credit line"? We see that with photographers every day. What we do has little perceived value to many and that won't change. Those who do value professional quality find it difficult to locate actual professionals among the 'guys with cameras' out there who believe that owning a camera has them qualified to call themselves Pro Photographers.

All the time.  I was just doing some photography for Habitat for Humanity, and the list of professionals contributing services included attorneys, architects, contractors, building supply houses and others.  There are many non-profits/charities who are greatly appreciative of help and will bend over backwards to make it worthwhile for you.

[chez]

No. Not at all and I didn't mean to imply that. I was just wondering if the opportunities for professional work might be increased as fewer people take semi-decent shots and documentation of any event decreases. I think the consensus of the forum is that the movement away any kind of "real" camera to cell phones is clear and unstoppable, but no one cares because bad photography is becoming more acceptable. And, of course, the quality of cell phone image capture is improving. Who knows. In a few years there could be cell phones with quality to rival the best cameras available today - but of course the operators will be, for the most part, clueless. 

I don't feel the quality of acceptable photography is decreasing. I believe when people were shooting film with their p&s cameras, the quality of those prints were the same as what we are seeing from the phone cameras...it's just you and I never got to see those prints as they ended up in photo books on shelves rather than posted onto the net like on Flikr.

[mvejerslev]

I think the whole mobile photography thing is like a mass compulsive psychosis. I don't see anyone actually ever sharing (I dont instagram - and i dont 'follow' the hoards of mobile photographers on flickr) or perusing anything recorded on one of these devices. And if they do, how long time do they expect us to spend looking at it? On the other hand, when people see my photos taken with a Canon DSLR and quality glass, they are usually blown away, because their conception of a photo has become some compressed fuzzy concept in grainland. The average quality bar of photography has never been lower in the history of photography IMHO. And the best possible results have never been better. So I see this as an opportunity.

[jferrari]

when people see my photos taken with a Canon DSLR and quality glass, they are usually blown away,

It doesn't pay the bills to be blown away. They have to pull the trigger and open their wallet. They are much less likely to do that now with the whole digital photo explosion and social media bombardment we've experienced this century. Also why should they pay you for your print of a sunset when they've taken their own "beauty" with their iPhone/tablet/P&S/Android device? Just look at what this concept has done to the music industry. Make no mistake, I neither support nor endorse this concept but I also do not deny it's existence.   - Jim

[Isaac]

What concept?

[jferrari]

What concept?

The advent of the wide spread availability of "relatively" high IQ devices such as: Point & Shoot's, Android and iPhone's, GoPro's, laptops, tablets, etc. and the ability to instantly share the images these devices produce, the wares of a traditional framer, printer or photographer are in decline. That concept.

[Gulag]

From paper to screen it's a sea change. And that's the new paradigm.

[Isaac]

The advent of the wide spread availability of "relatively" high IQ devices such as: Point & Shoot's, Android and iPhone's, GoPro's, laptops, tablets, etc. and the ability to instantly share the images these devices produce, the wares of a traditional framer, printer or photographer are in decline. That concept.

Disintermediation.

People sharing images relevant to their lives, within their circle; without delay, without the middle-man.