I'm not sure about how popular the new K Zoom will be with today's consumers though, you see people who use nothing but their camera phones to take pictures (usually of themselves) aren't really interested in serious photography. The teenagers and millennial generation Smartphone uses aren't interested in creating something that will pass the test of time, it only has to last long enough to share it with fellow smartphone addicts accompanied by text messages filled with nonsensical abbreviations like "OMG, FYI, and LOL. If they don't have time to write full sentences, what would make you think they would take the time to use a proper camera with real settings to take a photo. I guess the problem is we have created a society believing that unless you pack a new experience, or sensation into every waking moment of your day you will fall behind your contemporaries. What ever the reason may be, the fact that nearly every living breathing human on the planet capable of holding a cell phone snaps images of everything from their kid's kindergarten graduation to images of a full moon, and I don't mean the astrological kind!
So back to the my original question, is photography changing? The answer is no. I realize, I just went through a long dull dissertation on all the changes that technology has made in photography, but, has the reason for taking photos or subject matter really changed?. Today we take pictures of what interests us and that is exactly what the early photographers did, and as far as the so called "selfies", well take a look at the early professional photographers bread and butter photos, they were portraits. The only difference is that the people who wanted a portrait of themselves before the invention of modern cameras couldn't take it themselves or they most certainly would have. Actually though there is one enormous difference between the early days of photograph and now, and that the percentage of the public that is taking photos and videos. In the mid nineteenth century the percentage of people that took photos was so minuscule that it wouldn't even qualify as a percentage. Even when Kodak brought out affordable cameras like the "Brownie" the percentage probably never exceeded single figures. Today that is all changed, every cell phone now has photo and video capabilities, and their owners are not shy about using them. Teenagers and preteens routinely take and post millions of photos each day, and some experts (that has to be taken with a grain of salt) say that over one trillion or 1,000,000,000,000 snapshots were taken in 2015. Those figures seem a bit high to me since that would mean that every individual in the world each have had to have taken 133 photographs last year. The true figure is probably substantially lower but it would still boggle the mind. Let me give you an example of just how many people are taking photos and videos. On November 22,1963 the 35th President of the United States of America was assassinated in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade. Thousands lined the streets cheering the popular president and yet there are only about ten poor quality films in existence showing the events that took place, and only one of those clearly show Kennedy being shot. If that event were to reoccur today how many high quality videos of the shooting do you think would be published on Youtube? Well, it's only a hypothetical question but I betting it would be in the hundreds. Today's TV news is filled stories that are accompanied by video footage taken with a cell phone, some of which have sparked social upheaval and rioting. The fact is that the Orwellian supposition that "Big Brother is Watching" has finally come true, only the "Big Brother" Orwell was talking about is not only the government it also is us! The truth is that unless you live in a remote or third world area you are living in a digital image fishbowl. Traffic cameras, store surveillance cameras, Helicopter News cameras, home security cameras, baby monitor cameras, dash cameras, weather cameras, and of course personal cell phone cameras. Good thing cameras don't emit X-Rays, we would all glow in the dark. It used to be that if you did something wrong or idiotic you stood a good chance that you might get away with it being unnoticed or forgotten. Not now, if it doesn't wind up on the evening news it will surely be posted to Youtube, Vimeo, or perhaps if you really did something regrettable, "Redtube."
This finally brings us to the point I have been getting around to from the beginning of this post, is your right to privacy being assaulted by the digital camera crazy public? The first amendment to the United States Constitution contained in the "Bill of Rights" states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." That seems to make it pretty clear doesn't it, the First Amendment" guarantees your right to take photos of whoever, wherever, and whatever you want, right? Wrong, the "First Amendment" guarantees your personal right to speak, or write your opinions without fear of government censure or disruption, it does not however guarantee you the right to violate someone else's right to privacy. For example just because your overweight next door neighbor chooses to do Yoga exercises in his back yard wearing only a Speedo swimsuit that does not give you the right to video him and post it on the internet, by doing so you have just violated his rights. If you do this you may be the object of a civil suit under "The Privacy Laws of the United States", more commonly know as "Tort Laws." In short, take care of what you photograph and in particular carefully evaluate the items that you might be tempted to post on the internet. For example: Recently a Kentucky man walked out into his back yard where his sixteen year old daughter was sunbathing when he observed a quad copter hovering over his property with a camera pointed at his underage daughter. After making several futile gestures towards the copter to leave the man went back into his house, came back with his shotgun and blew the $2500 plus drone out of the sky. The indignant owners of the drone promptly called the police and had the man arrested for destruction of private property feeling that their "First Amendment" rights were violated. Unfortunately for them a Kentucky Judge did not feel that way and ruled that the man had every right to shoot the drone down, citing the privacy laws as her precedent. Hard to say what the final outcome will be but it would seem that the shotgun toting father is now withing his legal right to pursue financial awards for damages caused to him and his family. Could be the $2500 drone will only be a drop in the bucket when that Kentucky dad gets through with the aerial "peeping Toms."
So I guess the moral to the story is, before you take advantage of that "hey dude, wait till you see this" moment try and use as little common sense and restraint, even if it's not in your nature.
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