One way specifically that social media / internet culture has affected my work is that I want my work to be very clean. And by that, I’m not referring to content. What I mean is technically clean. The smallest imperfections in my work drives me crazy. If a piece I make is not up to my formal expectations, I will not show it. This has been a positive impact for me. It is never a bad idea to hold yourself to a high standard.
With the over production of digital images, artists have to make their work stand out somehow. One way to do this is making sure that your work is as technically as sound as possible. This newly found focus on craft is in part due to recently created tools. It really wasn’t that long ago that eight hour exposures were needed to create an image.
My least favorite trend in photography, has roots in early photography when colored photos didn’t exist. In the 19th century, the only way to have a colored image was to have it hand painted. It was a much more involved process. Antique colored images are beautiful; don’t get me wrong. But today’s interpretation of that practice is trite and uninspired. Here is an example of selective color I did in high school:
This trend does not add any visual value to the image. Sure. It puts emphasis on the most important aspect of the image. But because that one part of the image sticks out so much, the viewer’s eye get stuck there and cannot naturally flow throughout the image. No artist does themselves a favor by using selective color. This trend – thankfully – has recently begun to fade away into the background and die off.
Following trends is almost always damning, but trends are not inherently bad. It is important to find the balance between following and deriving inspiration. Taking inspiration from what your contemporaries are doing is a good idea, but being a blind follower means you are not staying true to yourself. Leaving yourself for what’s popular is the quickest way to get left behind.