The World is Changing

Screen shot from CBS 60 Minutes

Do you ever ask yourself why you take pictures?  Is there even a clear and consistent reason, or is it just something you've fallen into and decide you enjoy the experience? 

I ask others about this when I get a chance.  My informal survey make me think the number of reasons people take photographs is exactly equal to the number of people with cameras.  While there are some common threads, each photographer has his own unique take.  

One of the more common answers is to save the memory.  A similar comment is to relive the experience.  I'm not convinced that these two answers are the same thing.  I know that in the days of film and Instamatics, I knew a lot of people who had boxes of small prints or hundreds, maybe thousands of slides.  Saving those memories.  For the most part those prints and slides stayed in the closet and rarely if ever saw the light of day.   Looking at your old family or travel photos is a solitary pastime.  For the most part you can't get other people to experience those frozen stills the same way you do. 

I believe that is changing.  The CBS news program '60 Minutes' had a segment this week on the GoPro camera.  According to them, the GoPro is by far the best selling camera of all time.  It's tiny, requires only the bare minimum of skill to operate, and from what I've seen takes wonderful videos.  The segment was full of compelling video of all kinds of things.  Skiing over cliffs in the Alps, dolphins in the ocean, a bird stealing someones camera and providing a bird's eye view of the town.  It was unclear how that guy got his GoPro back. 

At the same time these tiny video cameras are breaking sales records and having their product used in all kinds of new applications, the news from the recent camera shows is that Canon, Nikon and Sony are struggling to sell big and super expensive DSLR style cameras.  The lower levels of the traditional camera market is being gutted, and the higher end is barely holding it's own, that's according the camera manufacturers themselves.  The take away is that the camera business is doing great, selling more equipment than ever.  It's just not the traditional still camera with interchangeable lenses that's leading the market. 

The world is changing.  And the grey haired CEO's of the giant camera companies are in their board rooms, wearing their tailored suits, holding meetings and trying to figure out what's going on.  Why are we not surprised?

Here's a link to the 60 Minutes segment.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50158867n