How digital technology changed the role of photography in the society?

Photography plays a big role in our society. It is used as an expression of oneself, a career, and is used in fields of advertising and marketing. For others, its a way of preserving and sharing moments.

Digital technology has paved the way for endless possibilities. The advancement in technology has made it easier for people to use a camera and store their photos. Cameras today are becoming smaller -- making it almsot effortless to carry around, and allowing people to take pictures whenever they want -- compared to cameras in the past. The way captured photos are stored has become more convenient. Photos are stored digitally and can be shared on computers and other digital devices. Today with the popularity of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, it is very common for people to share their photographs with their friends.

Digital technology has advanced technology in a whole new level and this has changed the way photography is done. For instance, editing – Photographers who wish to get their message across can get it done by simply editing their pictures. This is easier done now with the improvements in technology we enjoy today. In addition to that, having options such as PhotoShop makes it easier for visual designers to edit, or even manipulate photographs to give the illusion of reality.

(Just like this photo from deviantart.com, the artist had a vision of how he sees Philippines in the future)

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=future+of+the+philippines#/dwf2bk

What has been the impact of digital photography on journalism?

The most basic tactic used by newspapers to attract readers is the appeal of the product: design, photos used, etc. Digitalization has changed the demand how the information is presented, the page design, and the people who are behind the camera.

People want to read the news as soon as possible, thus there is a high pressure on photographers to publish. Being sad there is minimum or none time spent on editing, checking before submitting the photo. Photos are often taken just to illustrate the story, to attract viewers, but sometimes without capturing the more important aspects. People tend to care less about the quality of the photos, as long as they can access the news quickly.



The culture became more visual, thus there is a greater emphasis on images than text. “If you want to hook passing readers, photos are even more valuable than text. Photographs are essential for good design, and good design is essential for photos” (Harrower, 93). Basic design elements include full-color photographs for the front page, informational graphics to illustrate the news, packaging so that all themed content is easy to find and is already broken down for the reader (Harrower, 6). Before the digital revolution, newspapers had to use the lengthy darkroom process to produce photos. Photographers on the scene often used different cameras and spent hours shooting on film. Digitalization made photography cheaper, quicker, and easier.


Originally, a photojournalist was a professional with a degree, educational skills, and pricey equipment. Cheap digital cameras have eliminated the skill set used, thus now anybody who has a camera can be a photographer. Many of the photographs do not require a specialist, thus media companies are using photos taken by citizens too. The best example would be CNN’s iReport. Shooting by poor quality cameras from large distances is one of the negative impacts caused by untrained photojournalists.



Work Cited:
Harrower, Tim, ed. The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.