Spring is often the season we choose to talk about what will shape our futures. The air is fresh, and as nature, we want to renew ourselves too. As photographers it is the time we ask how to reinvent what we do. What new technologies will emerge on the market? What gear shall we choose? And no wonder, with technology evolving this quickly, you only need to blink before a new upgrade of your camera is on its way. It’s an expensive addiction, but how can we resist?
Many photographers agree that nothing is quite like looking at a physical print from an analogue large-format camera. Even after all these years, the earliest innovations ever made in photography can still beat equipment produced today. However, taking a look at the prototype of the first digital camera produced by Kodak in 1975, definitely starts spinning the wheels and makes you wonder at how far we’ve come.
As humans we will always try to improve. We have an urge to reach further, dive deeper and climb higher. The take-off of drone photography is a case in point. One man pushing the technical boundaries of the art is UK-based photographer and digital artist Benedict Campbell, who questions authenticity through his ‘virtual studio’. His hyper-real images look uncannily true to the eye and challenge our perception. His photos and computer-generated images are highly advanced and refined by today’s technology, and it makes us wonder, what will shape 2015, what is the next step in photography?
Of course we want everything that can make our images better but it’s not always having the newest gear available that’s important. Often, it’s the people who use the new technology that really catch our attention.
The January issue of PDN reveals the secret of how National Geographic photographers manage to create those incredible never-before-seen images. The answer is in fact not just highly skilled photographers with the newest and most expensive technology to hand, but a very inventive engineering department. Their clever heads have been behind-the-scenes for decades to help out photographers handling extreme situations. With this support a National Geographic photographer knows that it is only their own imagination that can hold them back – there is always a way to create the impossible picture.
Of course most photographers don’t have a technical team to help them out if they decided their next project will involve polar bears and temperatures down to minus forty degrees. So let’s have a closer look at hands-on adventurer and Alamy photographer Jason Lindsey. Technology is not perhaps the first thing that comes to mind by looking at his work, possibly because of the strong sense of authenticity in his images. These images however have been taken by somebody who knows exactly how to work his equipment (and is not afraid to jump into muddy waters where necessary). His commercial work looks stunningly personal and the colours of his landscapes will immediately grip your attention.
Different artists are rising to the challenges of our rapidly evolving industry in very different ways but with each new style or technique a new dimension is added to the art. It promises to be yet another exciting year for photography.