Conscientious
Written by Joerg Colberg
September 16, 2012
According
to Joerg Colberg, photography is not necessarily the most democratic medium compared
to others, like writing, music, or drawing.
Dictionary.com defines “democracy” as “the common people of a
community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with
respect to their political power.” Other mediums, he explained, are much
cheaper, quicker, and readily available to anyone who wanted to utilize
it. However, Colberg went on to explain
that the main thing that does make photography so democratic is the fact that
so many people use it as their primary medium.
The central issue then is that there are technical "barriers that still exist between photography done by 'the masses' and by that small elite." Ultimately, Colberg argued that "visual literacy" is what can bridge that gap between the ordinary photographers and the extraordinary photographers. I chose this article thinking it would criticize the overabundance of subpar photography that is produced by the millions on a daily basis--instead, I appreciated the positive tone of the article in that it was more solution based. Colberg didn't minimize the efforts of amateur photographers, but simply explained that a better understanding of photography and design could drastically change the photographic world and enhance the quality of images we produce. Overall, the article was a little difficult to follow because the writing was somewhat abstract, but the main idea of visual literacy was clear by the end of the article.
Great!
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