Succinct and poetic Don. The photographers journey is an excellent visual and so true, though for me I visualize it more like a Maslow-esque pyramid to artistic enlightenment.
Great post. This hits home for me. Especially the HONY parts about the algorithm and bending your output to fit it. I think it's even more pronounced than it was when human gatekeepers controlled everything in the past, because that algorithm is mechanical. If you don't hit its quantity and keyword needs, it ignores you—and so does the audience. It's fascinating how this has shaped what is popular, and therefore what becomes culture, in the 2020s. I have to fight against it in the things I make, striving for "good" rather than "more," and the system simply aint set up to reward that.
It is quite interesting that instead of Hollywood, California, Paris, London, or other cultural places leading trends, it is an algorithm created by anonymous people, controlled by anonymous people, and hidden from any scrutiny.
Succinct and poetic Don. The photographers journey is an excellent visual and so true, though for me I visualize it more like a Maslow-esque pyramid to artistic enlightenment.
I think we all did.
Shows the power of marketing and brand.
Reading camera magazines was one of the best and worst things about my early entry into this crazy craft.
The heavy emphasis on gear took hold, of course.
Now it is the algorithms that lead us.
Challenging, it is.
Great post. This hits home for me. Especially the HONY parts about the algorithm and bending your output to fit it. I think it's even more pronounced than it was when human gatekeepers controlled everything in the past, because that algorithm is mechanical. If you don't hit its quantity and keyword needs, it ignores you—and so does the audience. It's fascinating how this has shaped what is popular, and therefore what becomes culture, in the 2020s. I have to fight against it in the things I make, striving for "good" rather than "more," and the system simply aint set up to reward that.
It is quite interesting that instead of Hollywood, California, Paris, London, or other cultural places leading trends, it is an algorithm created by anonymous people, controlled by anonymous people, and hidden from any scrutiny.
It can lead us to some pretty strange places.
Thanks, Bill.