The photographs then and the photographs now

Let’s rewind few centuries and go back to the past. Having a picture taken was a thing only royal families could afford. Remember, there was no camera back then and one needed a very able artist to get their portrait done. It was never an easy task; the person who had to get his picture would have to sit in the same position for long hours. Imagine the hard work the painter and the one who is being painted had to put in. It was not a single day’s job. The queens, kings, princes and princesses had to do multiple sittings just to get their one picture done. They had to wear the same robes, same jewelleries and had to strike the same pose so that the picture in the portrait remained consistent.

When we think about such times, one particular picture will always come in our vision. That is none other than the painting of Monalisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, probably the worlds most popular painting. Almost every one of us has seen it. This painting truly signifies the glory of Da Vinci. There are many such great artists who have left their mark in this world by their brush strokes.

Now let’s go forward a few hundred years and enter into the era of Kodak. Eastman Kodak was the first person who introduced Camera to the world. It was still a painstaking task. The photographers were still considered as artists. Kodak revolutionized the world with his camera. Well not dwelling much into the evolution of camera let us concentrate on understanding why pictures were taken in early 1930’s.

Then for some decades black and white photographs ruled the world. Pictures were taken only one the best of the best occasions like graduation days, Marriage ceremonies, Conferences of international delegates etc. Pictures were very costly still and photography was still looked at as a profession rather than hobby. Well then what were the pictures of those years?. They usually had people holding their degree, shaking their hands with eminent personalities etc. And these pictures were framed and proudly hung on the walls. Taking photographs during those days was a matter of pride. Most did to just show that they could also afford a photograph of them.

Then slowly the technology changed, Colours came to life in these black and white photographs. All of a sudden they started looking more beautiful. The cost reduced and people now started owing their own cameras. Kodak’s KB10 was one such camera that was prominent those days. Well what did photographs of this era consist of? Well these were usually photos of functions and gatherings. But instead of one common picture taken, complete event was being covered in the pictures. It was great sight to see. Photography was being pursued as a hobby. So the people who could afford cameras went to the wild. The photographs became easily affordable and started to come in varying sizes. Photographs for passport became a big thing. The colleges started making ID cards, everywhere you went photographs became a proof of your identity. People used to store all the special photographs in a big album and preserve them with delicate care.

Technology evolved digital cameras have rolled in. Photography rolls have become completely obsolete just like the cassettes. Even before the photograph could come out in its physical form they could be checked then and there itself and deleted if they did not look beautiful.

Enter the present times. Facebook is the buzzword. No social networking site ever was as popular as Facebook is. Sharing photographs on Facebook, Instagram, Picasa is becoming increasingly popular. While these let you to share your clicks with your friends instantly but sadly that has become the only reason why people are taking pictures. Once I was at a famous place and overheard a conversation of group of friends. After they finished having their photography session one guy was checking his digital camera and said – “Dude! I will delete this pic, it isn’t worth uploading in FB”. I smiled to myself and wondered how the world has changed. The sole reason of taking pictures is just to upload them on Facebook. It is no more about the beauty of the picture. It is just about the number of likes or comments you get for it.  Recently Samsung has launched a camera that has Facebook app pre installed in it. So that you won’t waste your time in connecting your camera to your system and then open the browser to log into your Facebook account and then upload your picture. I am sure that many people for whom photography is passion will disagree with me. But I am just raising the view of a common man behind taking the pictures. I am personally not a big fan of photography. But I feel pity about the situation. We take pictures to upload them on Facebook! It is high time we should start taking pictures to capture moments that we feel are worth to be stored in a 5 MB jpeg file apart from our memory.

~SURYA
an observer