Press Button To Blog - Death Of A Photographer

As a hobbiest in this game, I can't help but feel a sense of dread for the future of photography for a multitude of reasons. In particular, like millions in wide ranging industries, I worry about the role that artificial intelligence (AI) will play in taking over the task of capturing images. Everything is taken out of the hands of real people and into the algorithms controlled by conglomerate corporations. Dystopian hellscape and all that jazz.

To fully understand my personal perspective, it's important to understand my journey into photography. I got into the advertising industry straight out of college, well past the heyday of the Mad Men era when half the job was partying and day drinking (not that day drinking still doesn't happen, it's just not day drunk). I mention this because I used to be told by some of the older crew about all the fun times I missed having been born a few decades late. The Golden Era had passed, and I was sitting there thirty years too late trying to bask in the remaining, ever fading light of what had become a straight laced industry dominated by percentage points and award shows. Talks around boozy lunches about wild parties with celebrities and winning trips to the Caribbean, and all the benefits of being the pioneers of an industry. At the time of course it annoyed me a bit, because who likes missing out on all of the fun? But what could I do about it? Like everyone else, there was little to do about it then to just to work 9-5 in my extremely HR appropriate office job?

I had already been interested in photography as a teen before my short-lived advertising career, but due to being, how do the kids say it nowadays..."under-privilgaed"? I wasn't able to get into the hobby the way I would have liked, so I pushed it way back on the burner when dinners go-to-die, to focus on other interests, namely working so I could put unburned food on the table. Obviously photography is an incredibly important, crucial part of advertising though, so it was almost always something on my mind as I studied and evaluated campaigns as a part of my education. Regardless of how witty the copy, viral the idea or flashy the celebrity, shit still needs to look good in order to sell. And that's where the photographer would come into play. Who wants to eat a burger that looks like it fell on the kitchen floor? Who wants to stay in an AirBnb when what's on display look like crime scene evidence? Why bother hiring the latest busty starlett if she looks like she belongs in the in memoriam section of an awards show? So I know better than the average person how important photography all is to a successful marketing mix.

Then I left the advertising indsutry and started working in the security field, where among other places I worked in various clubs and bars. Then of course similar stories continued from the old guard, telling me about how I missed the golden years of working as a bouncer as well. Thanks to the proliferation and celebration of "gangster" culture, gone are the man to man street fights that have since been replaced by group beatings and casual public shootings.

Nowadays, working in security you're mostly always at a disadvantage against the people who might want to do harm. If someone threatens to kill you, you stand there and take it. Only if they attack you first can you get physical, and by then you've already been hurt. Nowadays society is geared towards protecting the perpetrators rather than the victims. You used to be able to do a little bit of street justice when the occasion called for some, let's call it, "regulating". But now there are cameras everywhere and unfortauntely most of the time the bad people that cameras are meant to deter don't actually care. It only seems to work against the people who have to deal with the dredges of society to hold them accountable to the law that is powerless to prevent problems to begin with. "Oh, why did you punch that career criminal when he got in your face and said that he'd come back and murder you and your collegues? Oh my how unproffessional. To jail with you!" On numerous occasions I've intervened when someone has been violent and out of control, who were hurting entirely innocent, random people... only to then have some idiot's camera shoved in my face and told that I was a bully, or racist, or whatever else simply because I won the fight while preventing others from being injured. But it's more important to have something to angrily upload without context to social media than it is to actually know what's going on. It's simply the worst feeling to put yourself in harms way for the benefit of others only to be punished for it.

Then I left security to start working in the less stressful hospitality field, specifically in cooking. I'll give my dear readers a guess as to what I discovered there as well. I've missed all the fun parts of the culinary indsutry! Everything is now apparently derivative, too frou-frou, that the excitement of burgeoning food scenes had long since died down to the point where every city now has every type of cuisine doing the same thing every other metropolis is doing. Restaurants had/have been dying en masse due to inane COVID policies and lingering economic downturns. Workers are quitting in droves due to the low pay, dreary working conditions and the horrible treatment from both customers and coworkers. The whole industry fucking sucks. Even if you're successful, it still majorely sucks. Sweating into rich folk's food as you slave away in a sweltering kitchen under never ending hours, just to get a photo in an outdated magazine and your name recommended in travel foodie blogs. There's a reason every chef you meet is a miserable prick unless you're giving them money.

Listen. I'm appreciative of all the opportunties I've gotten. Through sheer hard work and a dash of luck, I've been in somewhat better positions than many of the people my age and the experience at the time. And I would never take away all of the personal growth and wealth of stories that I've received in return. But let's be honest, it is still fucking demoralizing to be told that in almost everything you do, that it was better before you got there, through no fault of your own. Perhaps it's just the emo teenager that's held hostage deep within my psyche, but I was so sick of being told that I was too late to be a part of the party.

As a technical millennial (don't hold it against me) growing up in the 90's and 2000's, I had already missed the years that many consider some of the best in modern history. Gone were the days where you could settle down and create a comfy life for yourself just by working hard. You might never become rich working in more blue collar jobs, but you could provide for yourself without struggling. Now unless you're lucky enough to be truly, highly successful, a lot of people find a lot of what was once achievable by the average person to be little more than a pipe dream for people in this day and age. Buying a house? Forget about it, people can barely afford groceries and renting a roof over their head.

Now, against my better judgement I decided to get more involved in another industry that's has already had it's best days way behind it. There will always be a need for cameras, and to a degree a need for photographers for events that people would rather trust an expert for (like a wedding). But slowly photographers are going to be replaced as well, just as I'm trying to make my way into the fold. Suffice to say, it's disheartening.

I knew that it was going to be a difficult task, carving out my own niche in an oversaturated market against others with more experience. At the time I made the decision to invest in myself, I thought that with my overall skillset from previous positions, that the deficit I faced could be overcome. I knew how to market myself and my future business aspirations, I knew from extensive customer service roles how to interact and work with people to get customers satisfied with the end results. I thought I could do this.

And then, just as I began studying and playing around with my camera, with hopes and aspirations of one day making money in the field doing a job that I genuinely enjoy...then came the worst timeline's version of Artificial Intelligence. Well I suppose it's not THE worst, but it's a distant second.

On a macro level, in the time since A.I became such a debated topic, hundreds of thousands of people have already been estimated to have lost their positions due to redundency. Why hire a human who complains and needs time off and stays out sick and wants raises? Just get the computers with programs like ChatGPT to do it. As computers and algorithms become more advanced, it's becoming increasingly easy for people to take great photos without having any real photography experience. With the help of tools like Photoshop and other editing software, anyone can create fantastic images basically out of thin air.

It's not just AI and editing software that's a threat to photography, either. Advances in cellphone camera technology mean that more people than ever before have access to near professional grade cameras right in their pockets. Sure, afficiandos can argue that it's just not the same, and that the artificial upscaling required in phones leads to a loss in quality. For the majority of uses though, consumers can't tell the difference between a photograph taken on a Leica M11 vs a Google Pixel. Frankly, it's starting to feel like the art of photography is becoming obsolete. I can't help but feel a little lost. Was it a bad idea to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak? As much as it pains me to say it, I think that it may be time to start looking at other career avenues. The world of photography is changing, and not in my favour.

The recent emergence of programs like Midjourney has made it easier and more affordable for people to create images without any real skill, experience, or passion. While automation undoubtedly has its benefits, it also has the potential to destroy the very thing that makes photography an art form - creativity.

As mentioned, we have already witnessed programs like ChatGPT decimate writing careers as businesses turn to easier, cheaper, and faster ways of producing content. Within a year of its launch, ChatGPT had already caused the end of many writing careers as businesses turned to the program for content creation. Which was a large part of the recent Hollywood writer's strike. It's not difficult to see how the same thing could happen to the photography industry as well.

Photography, like writing, requires creativity, intellect, and a special touch that separates professionals from amateurs. As AI technology continues to disrupt the photography industry, I fear that we may see the emergence of an overabundance of soulless, drivel void of any real meaning or emotion. The very essence that makes photography such a powerful and engaging art form may no longer exist, leaving the industry with nothing but hollow imitations of real talent.

There is certainly a place for AI and automation in the photography industry, and it can be used to enhance and complement the skills of professionals. However, I believe that the true value of photography lies in the unique perspective and skill of the artist behind the lens. Photography isn't just about capturing an image in perfect focus and lighting, but rather capturing the essence of the moment and the emotion that inspired it. The ultimate question about AI is whether it can mimic the human eye and emotions, or whether it can only present a 4K soda can being crushed by a mountain troll or whatever the fuck.

I value the art of capturing raw emotion in my shots. To do this, I need to have a deep understanding of the subject I'm photographing, the environment in which they exist, and the mood or emotion that they are experiencing. This level of understanding and connection is something that can't be replicated by a machine or a program.

In conclusion, the rise of AI technology and programs like Midjourney pose a threat to traditional photography as we know it. It's important to remember that while automation can enhance the skills of professionals, it can never replace the creativity and unique perspective of the artist behind the lens. To truly capture the essence of life and emotion, we must rely on the skills and passion of real photographers who are dedicated to their craft. Anything else is just a facsimile of real talent. Whether or not the average photography has real talent is a question for another day.