I've been thinking about the fact that many digital cameras, phones with cameras, and even some of the newer digital SLRs shoot video. Some people are saying things along the lines of, "You can't stop it, we're seeing the convergence of photography and video..."
I think that more accurately, we're seeing devices that can do both still photography and video and I see a clear distinction between the two. One is not better than the other, each are just well suited at telling stories or conveying something in different ways. This has become pretty clear with the explosion of youtube over the last 7 or 8 years and my own fiddling with our $90 "HD-720p" video cam.
Now that was not a high-quality video experience for a variety of reasons but consider, if you actually watched that, how it differed from coming to this or any other blog that features still photos. How was this different?
One thing that sticks out in my mind is that video requires one's rapt attention for a longer period of time. At least most of the time. To appreciate a still photo, on the other hand, I can usually glance at it for a couple of seconds, perhaps spend 30 to 60 seconds if it is a really compelling image.
While the two mediums are both visual arts and both create compelling visual images when well executed, still photos must tell their story very efficiently and elegantly to be effective. Video, on the other hand, tells a story by...well...actually telling a story over a period of time. And often those stories can be more involved or at least longer or more detailed or provide more contextual information.
So I don't think that video will suddenly make still photography obsolete but it will take the place of still photography in places where video is more effective. News is one obvious place where we'll see, and indeed already have seen, more video. But again, there is still something compelling about certain, very effective still images in the photojournalism realm. There's something impressive about a still image that can effectively tell a short story.
I guess there's plenty of room for both. Or maybe I'm just bitter that my videos are pretty lame. ;-)
very interesting.
i agree, i don't think that although they are similar mediums, they present in different ways and both are relevant and needed in their own right. they still both fulfill different funtions.
great demo of your light box and btw, you've got a great voice, well suited to video and/or voice over... ;-)
Posted by: r-dean | March 04, 2009 at 10:29 PM