Why is social media great until it has to be great?
With apologies to Lizzo for the awkward paraphrase, I have a love-hate relationship with social media. It’s helped me make some talented photographer friends I would otherwise have never met, including Paul Cook, Chris Sale, and Anthony Toglife.
Yet, I’ve seen far too many electrons devoted to debates about Nikon vs. Canon, color vs. black and white, digital vs. film, and how much post-processing is okay. For the most part, I ignore those debates, especially when they get heated. When I do have trouble ignoring them, I remind myself that:
Photography is literally writing with light, using composition, texture, line, shape, pattern, color, and tone as the grammar.
Some stories are best told with color; for some, color distracts.
Film is best sometimes; digital works well other times.
Since I started photography in the 1970s, almost all cameras allow us to make photographs that share our vision.
Photographers have been making changes to what came straight out of camera so they can express their vision since photography began.
I hope you think of these principles the next time you see a flame war erupt. Instead of following it or adding your two cents, do like another friend, David Saylors, says: “Get your camera out and go take a picture.”