Drowning in Photography: Privilege or Horror?
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The most heartbreaking moment of my first backpacking trip across Europe occurred around day 25 of a 30-day trip. I was on a train and went to retrieve something from my bag. As I unzipped it, a bunch of film rolls fell out. (My trip predated digital photography and I had been shooting like crazy.) When I investigated why they fell out, I realized that gravity, the design of the bag’s interior pockets and the position I commonly laid my bag down in had all contributed to releasing the film rolls. I wondered if that had happened before, and after counting them up I was horrified to find more than half were missing. I’d lost priceless images of places and moments I’d never again get to experience.
One thing I envy of the younger generation is how much enduring documentation of their lives they have access to. Digital snaps are uploaded to Facebook and Flickr with an almost thoughtless ease, and today’s average teenager probably has more photo documentation of their high school years than I have of my entire life.
Is that a good thing? Erik Kessels, the Creative Director and co-founder of Amsterdam ad agency KesselsKramer, makes an interesting point with his contribution to a currently running group show at The Future of the Photography Museum:
Photography in abundance
Through the digitalisation of photography and the rise of sites such as Flickr and Facebook, everyone now takes photos, and distributes and shares them with the world – the result is countless photos at our disposal. Kessels visualises ‘drowning in pictures of the experiences of others’, by printing all the images that were posted on Flickr during a 24-hour period and dumping them in the exhibition space. The end result is an overwhelming presentation of a million prints.
While I certainly don’t want to drown in photos of even my own experiences, I’d at least be happy to choke and cough up a little if I could get those lost images back.
What’s Next? The Future of the Photography Museum
foam
Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
Through December 7th, 2011
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