TWiT Photo 44: WPPI 2012 | Is Technology A Menace to Photography?

At the Wedding & Portrait Photography International (WPPI) conference 2012 in Las Vegas, Catherine is joined by 8 industry experts and insiders to convene on the controversial subject, Is Technology a Menace to Photography?

The luminary-studded panel featured renowned photographers such as Pulitzer Prize winner Greg Gibson, celebrity photographer and Help-Portrait creator Jeremy Cowart, reDefine host Tamara Lackey, Fast Track Photographer educator Dane Sanders, legendary wedding photographers Cliff Mautner and Jerry Ghionis, hot emerging fashion photographer Lindsay Adler, and glamour queen Sue Bryce. They engaged in a heated discussion about topics, such as the too-easy lure of technological gimmickry to smooth over lack of artistic know-how; self-education and cultivation of a unique creative vision with responsible and mindful use of technology; so-called “naive” art; the future of point-and-shoots and DSLRs in an age of camera phones; and the relevance of professional photographers over the coming decade.

Here are some quotes from the show:

Lindsay Adler:

It has nothing to do with the technology but about the person. In the end, if you’re a good photographer, if you have good ideas, that’s what wins.

Jeremy Cowart:

Photographers, instead of going out and pursuing personal projects, they are just obsessed with blogging, [social media, etc.] Sometimes I just want to scream on Twitter, ‘Why aren’t we talking about images?’

Greg Gibson:

iPhoneography makes photography accessible to the masses and as a result, it makes it easy to get fooled and tricked into thinking that now exposure’s easy, focus is easy, that photography’s easy.

Jerry Ghionis:

I believe the digital revolution has made us lazy. Many new photographers learn to shoot RAW, over and underexposed by two stops, do what you want in Photoshop, slap a filter, slap a texture on there, and it will be okay. 

Tamara Lackey

You want the viewer to feel something when they look at the portrait, that ability to empathize with another individual and pour that into a portrait doesn’t improve with a greater pixel count.

Dane Sanders

When I am at my most creative, it has very little to do with what I can pull off technologically.

Sue Bryce:

If i know enough to sustain an income and market myself, in an industry that is so flooded with photographers and yet I can stand out, by offering a brand that is better than others, then who gives a f*** if I don’t know your old craft?

Cliff Mautner

I’m a much better photographer now since I went digital; my skillset has increased ten-fold. I think everybody here can say to themselves, I am a better photographer now because of digital.

Find out more by watching the video here or on iTunes. Next week: Travel photographer and blogger Gary Arndt. Have questions, suggestions or praises? Please email photo@twit.tv.