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The photographer, the lonesome, DIY, creative we have loved and admired during the 20th Century will disappear over the next 5-10 years to be replaced by a more collaborative arrangement. That is one of the provocative but highly-informed judgements of photographer Vincent LaForet in an interview with Rob Haggart of the blog, A Photo Editor in a feature called The Future of Photography is Convergence.
While Haggart argues that the still image will still be the ‘entry point’ for consumers, as it is the most effective way of nailing an idea, compared to the wash of moving imagery which surrounds us, LaForet is not so sure.
LaForet foresees the development of a live-action camera taking hundreds of images a second at a similar resolution to the best still-image cameras today. And he foresees that the rapid development of camera technology, and the huge amount of digital information it generates, will require a more integrated creative and professional partnership between photographer and editor.
VL: The one thing that’s going to make me miss or succeed as a photographer is capturing “the” moment, because that involves anticipation and predicting the future. It involves a lot of skill, a lot of guess work, and experience. And I think ultimately knowing when to press that shutter is one of the greatest skills you can develop as a still photographer.
RH: And eventually, there’s going to be no shutter to press.
VL: Precisely. The cameras can now be recording all the time.
RH: So doesn’t that just transfer the job of capturing the decisive moment to editing the decisive moment?
VL: Editing is going to become one of the most important, sought after skill sets in the next five to 10 years. I think we’re going to see such an incredible amount of data coming in, to the likes of which we’ve never seen before that editors are going to become one of the most important job positions out there.
RH:So there will be a need for a photographer to pair up with an editor?
VL: I don’t see how a photographer/videographer can do all this on their own. They would never sleep.”
If this is true, how much will this change the way photography is created and perceived? Will we still see the photograph as the vision of a single individual or will we think about a photograph the way we think about songwriting for example. Like Lennon and McCartney? A co-production, sometimes more one person than another. |
