Under Construction.
Self-evident.
New York City is constantly under construction. It’s not only the city that never sleeps, it’s the city that’s never complete.
This Department of Buildings office on Park Avenue is itself shrouded in scaffolding as are the buildings across the street. There is so much construction activity in this part of the city that it’s often difficult to appreciate the architecture.
Today’s picture is more than a picture of a sign on a door. The reflection is also a mirror on New York.
Which leads us to the question of intention…
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The issue is quality.
That is my answer to the question; how does phone photography affect professional photographers?
It’s the subject of a much cited article this week from Wired.com.
One of my photography instructors once compared un-trained photographers to barking dogs. He said, “they don’t know why they are barking they just do and every once in a while they bark at the right thing.” His point was that intention is the key to good photography.
In Washington, D.C. for instance, thousands of people take hundreds of thousands of pictures of the sights of the city every day - and some of those pictures are good - but only accidentally. It takes someone with intention and the ability to see that intention through to be a true photographer.
The Wired article estimates that “a trillion” pictures are taken each year with cell phone cameras. Yes, some of them may be used in place of a photo taken by a professional, but when it comes to quality it is doubtful any those cell phone photos can compete with those taken by someone who actually understands how to use a camera.
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One way to set your photography apart from all others who’ve come before you is to deliberately point your camera in the opposite direction.
When most people think of the photography of Utah they think of colorful mountains and maybe Salt Lake City. But one book project seeks to change that by highlighting lesser known photographers who may or may not be attracted to the state’s landscape.
The portfolio book is titled: DEIMARCATION: A Survey of Contemporary Photography in Utah.