Surviving Modernity : 21st century Photographer

Photography exists since mid 18th century and in last decade it has grown so drastically that now it has changed the way we see our world. First recorded history of model photography was in mid 18th century when a french photographer named Adolphe Braun shot the pictures of Countess of Castiglione, Virginia Oldoini and published a book containing her images. Virginia Oldoini is also considered as the first fashion model in the history to pose for a photographer.

The reason why we need to understand at least a bit of history is that we all are part of history. What is modern now is a history 50 years down the line. So, whatever you are trying to do, keep it legendary. 20 years ago no one would have thought about a camera inbuilt in a watch or in a collar button. But, now it is a reality and everyone have access to camera in their fingertips. It is true that due to the immense availability of camera devices, the art of photography has lost its value. But, again photography is not about clicking the button in camera or tapping the touchscreen of your smartphone.

No offense to landscape photographers, but to become a landscape photographer you only need the passion for photography and willingness to travel. But, for any other genres, it is a difficult game. For example, if you are a wildlife photographer, you not only need to understand animals and birds but also need to go deep into their lifestyle, their ecosystem, and their habitat. Some wildlife photographers are even expected to learn the scientific names of birds so that they can communicate easily with ornithologists. Likewise, if you are a food photographer, loving food is a good way to understand it but taking photograph of food is different from eating food. I am giving you one more example just to make things clear: Assume you are asked to do a shoot of Dominos Pizza. Do you think you can order a pizza to your studio and start shooting it? Well, you can do that but that would be the stupidest way to do a shoot. For shooting a food product, you need to be as close as possible to the preparation centre or kitchen, so that the transporting won't affect the crispness and freshness of food. Second, you need to ensure the ambient you are shooting. You simply cannot shoot a hot product in an air conditioned room and expect it to remain same for 30 minutes.

So, the idea is that having a camera is not enough to become a photographer, understanding and seeing the trends will help you to cope with future change