If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If I make a photograph and don’t share it on the internet, does it really exist?
While I continue to create new images, circumstances have kept me from the scanning of, editing and sharing of said photographs in digital form. Does that make the work any less relevant? Do we now base success solely on likes, presence, reach, and the ability to game ‘the algorithm?’
As someone who has shared the vast majority of his work online in digital form, this is something I think about a great deal, especially when it no longer becomes viable, interesting, or even entertaining…
The internet no longer seems to be the place for me, or my work, or for anyone pursuing a labor of love for that matter. Unless blessed by the algorithm, or enhanced by a marketing team, or backed by some juggernaut of the media industry, independent creators seem to toil away in obscurity the way we always have. Gone are the days of the weblog of the prolific artist, the unregulated world of tumblr, or even the simple chronological feed of Facebook or Instagram.
I see less and less draw to sharing work online, beyond a simple record, or to augment a ‘brick and mortar’ project. My photographs have always been rooted in the analog, the tactile, the three dimensional object. I will of course continue to share work here, though my interest lies largely in the printed image.
Not bitter, just realistic. I leave you with a recent image of the catalyst for this rant.
Thomas, 8 months old - 2019.