Yesterday during my lunch I was enjoying the sun and taking in the sights and sounds of our beautiful city, Cork.
As I walked past the Irish Examiner office, I couldn’t help but notice a whole array of old photographs displayed in the window.. you know the ones, black and white and of times gone by, a selection of imagery that has been printed in the paper down through the years.
As I stopped and admired the images, one thing that struck me was how all the people in the photographs were completely mesmerised by the camera. One in particular is of a swimming pool and there must be over fifty people in the shot. What is really impressive is how all of these people have stopped what they were doing and are now fixated on the photographer and his camera.
Firstly, a day out at the swimming pool in what looks to be around the late 60’s or early 70’s would have been a massive big deal, and obviously someone taking a photograph is equally amazing.
While a photograph in those days commanded so much authority this is in stark contrast to now when photographs are a regular everyday occurrence, so easily generated with our phones and shared digitally, with a huge percentage of them never even making it to print.
With such a large volume of photographs being taken, a lot of them have lost their beauty and intrigue, which was once so evident in these old photographs.
This ‘loss’ is from both sides; the photographer is not restricted by expensive film, they just want to get the photo as quickly as possible and share it. The people in the image don’t really care as much because they know another one will be taken again shortly.
Our new era is more than ok with me, because it’s a great thing being able to capture and share so many moments so easily and so instantly. Even better it is easy for us to browse through them, like and comment on them and share them even further when we want..fantastic!
However, what does bother me a little bit is when you think of those old photographs they were created by such talented craftsmen. They were so impressive in their appearance, that people really paid attention to them.
Whilst the advancements in technology is brilliant, it makes everything so easy for everyone and with a couple of tutorials everyone becomes a “photographer” or so you would believe.
This is clearly not the case – as a creative person I tend to observe a lot of things that others just would not and unfortunately I see that our visual intake everyday is completely polluted with photographs and imagery that have just been made by someone with a nice camera or the latest version of photoshop.
During the course of my graphic design work it is staggering to see the difference that a great photo can make – without great photos it can be very difficult to bring something to life properly. With our PR team a great photograph can help to tell a story brilliantly and get a story to “land”.
That is why it is so important in today’s world that if you want a great photograph that you should go to a professional photographer who loves doing what they do and someone who has served their time training to become what their heart desired.
At least then you know that this person will take that stunning well composed photograph even if it is a swimming pool packed full of people!
Ray Keohane
Ray Keohane is a Graphic Designer who works with Fuzion from offices in Cork and Dublin, Ireland.
