How did Social Media democratised Photography?

Our generation was born in what we call the Digital Era. Anywhere you look, you will see a digital device or service. As all part of our evolution, technology is a subject of controversy, between the purists, the supporters of this Numeric Age, and the people who just think those devices overtake on the “basic healthy life”, as they call it. “It was better before”, “You now live through a screen, what a pity”… so much sentences we all know and have heard so many times.

As all controversies, there are bad and good sides. For instance, our way of living were significantly improved thanks to technologies but it is also true that it has made us becoming vulnerable: What would we do if there was a global breakdown?

Now let’s talk about what interest us the most and the main theme of our blog: ARTS.

What is the influence of social media on Arts and especially on Photography?

It is firstly important to know about the beginning of Photography. Created by Nicéphore Niepce in 1839 and then improved as the Daguerreotype by Louis Daguerre in the the 1830s, the camera was made in a particular purpose: capturing one particular moment in order to keep it for long. Photography was at first used mostly to capture people’s death, as a reminder for the dead’s family (a bit creepy, isn't it?). Then it was popularised with the silver photography, and didn’t stop evolute until the Digital Camera we know today.

Talking more precisely about the Art of shooting, its popularity changed over the years and the use of cameras. For instance, in the 60s, photography was cheaper, and experimental arts were frequent and popular, such as Robert Mapplethorpe work that you can see below.

Then the price of rolls and cameras started to rise up: photograph artists were now part of an elite who showed their work to people also part of this elite. Photography became a closed and private practice where only a few people could enter.

This is where Social Media appeared and changed the balance, added to the Digital Revolution that happened in the late 50s.

In fact, the purpose of social media was to improve communication throughout the world: faster, easier, touching way more people than before, the apparition of Mass communication media has definitely democratised Photography as they simply “talked” about it and made it more famous around the world.

TV, Radio, all the devices talking about famous photographers, promoting their work around the globe… Photography started to touch more and more people as its image of inaccessible art appeared to be completely wrong.

This is the magical aspect of social media: if a TV animator simply mentions a photographer, people will look at his work. Imagine now the effect of an interview on a Talk Show, a mentioning of an exhibition, a diffusion of his photographs… Everything is accelerated and more accessible thanks to Social Media.

Besides, Social Media have this popular image to people which certainly changed the image photographers could have had before. From an elite, they have become adventurers in quest of the perfect cliché. And now that we are at the age of smartphones and social networks, it is not necessary to have the latest expensive camera to take beautiful pictures and share it with the world. An average student from the Minnesota who never touched a camera can become famous for his photographs on Instagram. Isn’t it beautiful ?

Everyone could become an artist.

Social Media can be criticised at many points but they definitely took part in the popularisation of the art of photography and have transformed it. Thanks to them, we can all be artists now.

Written by Lina B.