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The major value photographers add to what the machine can do is social status. People like an identical photograph more if they know it was taken by a famous ph
by mrob 11y ago
The major value photographers add to what the machine can do is social status. People like an identical photograph more if they know it was taken by a famous photographer. Social status is a positional good. It's not possible to have high social status unless others have low social status, and those with low social status are in the majority. They cannot be successful photographers, no matter how good their skills, because technical advances have made skills much less important than status. This kind of change limits social mobility and is bad for society.
- jdavis703 11y agoI see your point, but I think this kind of meritocratic status increases mobility, at least for talented people. Instead of having say someone give me $50,000 to open a store front studio, I can buy camera equipment for a couple thousand bucks, open a website and start advertising in Instagram, FB whatever (side note, I do some photography on the side, and book most of my paid work from organic marketing there) and be in business. Creative enterprises in particular are fields where talent, not inherited social status, determine ones success. And yes there are OK photographers (Annie Leibowitz comes to mind) who just cash in on their brand. But I knew one guy who worked as a florist, and built a high-end wedding photography bussines. He was not rich, but had artistic talent and marketing savvy, and now has people working for him.