To be or not to be (a post-photography, photographer)?

Tim Hetherington gave an interesting interview to The New York Times Lens Blog.

Most of it was bang on, but duck picked out a few of his statements as ‘crap‘. Specifically the idea that we are living in a ‘post-photography’ world, and the idea that if you want to engage lots of people than photography as a medium is dead.  It was a bit of a weird statement to be made on the Lens blog which is read by a lot of people and focuses on photography.

Lots of people disagreed and told me so.

This is an edit of David Campbell’s thoughts:

‘The best way to understand what Tim is getting at is to contrast his interview to the recent statements of Jean Francois Leroy of Visa pour l’image. Like others (I’m thinking of the Digital Journalist last year), Leroy issues annual statements that effectively bemoan the “death of photography” or “death of photojournalism” given the way the mega agencies (whose money Visa doesn’t mind taking, as @foto8 pointed out) and the traditional media outlets don’t commission or fund or publish photographic work like the did in the alleged “golden age”.

Tim’s point is forget this nostalgia and desire to return to a past that is long gone. Instead he wants people to concentrate on the story, and use as many platforms as possible to get the story out. On both counts I think he is spot on.’

Now Aric Mayer has entered the debate, laying out the issues clearly and thoughtfully. Aric, like David above, is always worth reading. He is bang on.

Hetherington’s use of the term post-photography deserves some unpacking because it is incredibly relevant to the transitions we are experiencing today. We have not arrived at a world in which photography is irrelevant or replaceable by another medium. In fact quite the opposite, photography seems to be expanding in its use and influence. Where we have arrived is a new place in which that old model that focused its energy on the image itself while the rest of the mechanisms of its life remained outside of the control of any one person has now been replaced by technological advances that bring much more of the entire spear under the control of the creators. Restrepo got made because it is now possible to make such a film with a camera and a laptop. 20 years ago it would have taken a small army of people and millions of dollars of equipment.

We mustn’t kid ourselves though. The traditional gatekeepers are still there and will cling onto the power that their readers give them. Photographers still want to get their work published in The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian because they offer prestige and a large audience.

We have entered a new age for the publication and distribution of photography but it is intertwined with an age that has not yet passed by. Either way the photo remains central to how we understand the world.