In no particular order and with no particular emphasis here are some of the thoughts currently occurring to me with regards to both the medium of photography and the photographic environment we find ourselves in. Posted to create debate not agreement, but if you agree that’s fine with me.
- When will people start to recognise the reality and importance of computational photography?
- It is time to accept the smartphone as a camera.
- Work that requires linguistic gymnastics to explain its reason and/or intention does not fulfill its purpose as visual language. It never did and it still does not.
- Keep it personal and let people know about it.
- Instagram is important but it is not everything.
- Photo books should exist but only if they have a reason to.
- Competitions should reveal their facts and figures. Entries made, profits made, costs incurred or be boycotted.
- Portfolio reviews should be free. Those that need them most can afford them least.
- Let’s not forget or disrespect our history in a panic to find the new.
- There is no shame in being a photographer, you don’t have to be an artist.
- If you want to do it you can. It just won’t be easy.
- Collaborate.
- Don’t be angry, get busy.
- It has never been easier to meet fellow photographers in person, but it means leaving the comfort of a screen.
- Photographs have become stained glass windows.
Grant Scott is the founder/curator of the United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer in Editorial and Advertising Photography at the University of Gloucestershire, a working photographer, and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Focal Press 2014) and The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Focal Press 2015). His next book #New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography will be published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2018.
His documentary film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay will be premiered in 2018.
© Grant Scott 2018
Leave a Reply