In this essay, I will be critically reviewing Sean O’Hagan’s ‘The Digital age reshapes our notion of photography. Not everyone is happy’ (2016). In his article, O’Hagan discusses how social media has become a space for people to be able to share images quickly and without thinking about what they are posting. This suggests that photographers displaying their work printed and in public galleries is in decline, as people are able to post their work instantaneously over social media.
In his article, ‘The Digital age reshapes our notion of photography. Not everyone is happy’ (O’Hagan, 2016), O’Hagan discusses Cornell Capas’ quote on photography: “it is the most vital, effective and universal means of communication of facts and ideas between peoples and nations”. This quote shows that photography is used like a language that can convey all the information needed visually. Capa founded the International Centre of Photography, in 1974 for what he called “concerned photographers” to display their works.
Following from Capas’ statement, O’Hagan highlights how “in the age of social media and insta-overload, photography not only reflects the fast-forward momentum of the hyper-digital age but drives and shapes it” (O’Hagan, 2016). This shows us that technology has advanced and continues to advance to where people are able to instantly post images and their thoughts and feelings publicly. People everywhere are able to use smart phones or other smart devices to instantly take, edit or manipulate and then post images that convey their thoughts and feelings on either themselves or the world around them. This could take the form of a young girl taking a “selfie” image and then digitally editing it to make herself look older or more like how models on social media look, so she can fit into the unrealistic standards placed on young people today.
Following this paragraph, O’Hagan discusses Doug Rickards instalment for the Public, Private, Secret exhibition. Rickards instalment was material, usually caught on social media, in which citizens would record violence and robberies and edit them together “that speaks of very contemporary anxieties – both about everyday American violence and the ways in which evidence of that violence is disseminated on social media sites with no context or condemnation” (O’Hagan, 2016). This statement suggests that in todays’ society, as everybody is able to photograph and video the things around them, there is a constant stream of violent images being broadcast all over social media. As these images are available for all to see, people are becoming more de-sensitised to seeing horrific images. O’Hagan continues “photography tends to be made – and remade, remixed and recontexualised – rather than taken” (O’Hagan, 2016). This quote suggests that images and videos are taken, often without the original artists permission, and the image or video is then edited and manipulated so ownership of the material is taken by someone else. O’Hagan states how this is a juxtaposition to Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work, as Cartier-Bresson would photograph the real world as he saw it, with no manipulation or without staging the photograph.
Overall, O’Hagan argues that in todays modern society, photography is easily accessible to everyone through smart phones and cheaper camera. Also, editing apps and software are constantly being developed to alter the final product of the image. This could be used as an artistic art form or used to enhance the appearance of someone to fit the societal expectations seen all over social media.
O’Hagan suggests that photography today is no longer about being able to document real life, but about capturing images that can be edited and manipulated to fit the narrative of the world the photographer wants to envision.
Reference List:
Sean O’Hagan’s ‘The Digital age reshapes our notion of photography. Not everyone is happy’ in The Guardian, 3 July [online]. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jul/02/photography-no-longer-just-prints-on-the-wall (Accessed: 4 October 2019)
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