Is Photography Better in the Digital Age?

 Clearing storm over Lookout Mountain. Walker County, Georgia

Bob Schwalberg (European editor of the now-defunct Popular Photography magazine) was once raving about the newest cameras on the market to Ernst Haas, an Austrian who was one of the leading photographers in the world. Haas shot him down with "Ach, Schwapselberg, why is it that cameras keep getting better but pictures don't get any better?"  

That's the sixty-four-dollar question, isn't it?

In this digital age it's easier than ever before to make a sharp, well-exposed photograph. But is it a better photograph? Are things like sharpness and proper exposure the criteria that make a photograph good? Or is it the content?

What do you have when you have a sharp, well-exposed picture of a boring subject? Answer: you have a boring photograph.

I can't say it won't happen in the future, but so far, at least, cameras do not come with a little signal that pops up in the viewfinder to say "Good photo. Snap now."

If only it were that easy. But no, good photographs do no come from what's in the camera. They come from what's inside the photographer. 

Since the days of George Eastman and his first Kodak, camera manufacturers have been telling people that better cameras would make them better photographers. It was a lie then, and it's a lie now.

So no, photography is not better in the digital age. But cameras are better, and it's nice to have a good one. With some study and work, you can learn to make truly good pictures with it.

The scene at the top of this post is one I passed twice a day, every day, on my way to my studio in Chattanooga. I photographed it at least 15 or 20 times before I got this shot. Persistence pays off. 

(Canon EOS A2, Canon 80-200 f2.8L lens. Not digital, but Fujichrome 100 film.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     Bob Schwalberg    Ernst Haas     George Eastman     Kodak    Canon EOS A2 camera     Canon EF 80-200 f2.8L lens     Fujichrome 100 film