The rise of technology in our society has led to most people having almost 24/7 access to mobile phones. With apps such as snapchat and Instagram, Wim Wenders’ stating that “we’re all taking billions of pictures” is very easy to agree with. Snapchat has almost 190 million daily users in 2019 and Instagram has approximately 95 million post daily. With such crazy high statistics such as these, the argument Wim Wenders makes that photography is “more dead than ever” can be agreed with but at the same time can be looked at a different perspective.
With people taking these billions of photos daily the value of photos drops significantly. What was once a long process of taking the film to a store and having them produce the physical photos for you, is now instantaneous and always accessible on your device. Many people may be discouraged to take photos as they may think it is pointless. What would the point be of taking a sunset photo when there are millions available online that are probably of much higher quality.
Although the value of photos have decreased, the fact that it is easy to take a photo and share it is a great thing. Susan Sontag states that “having an experience becomes identical with taking a photograph of it”. Sharing these experiences you have with friends and saving them to your devices encapsulates the memory. Also, being able to share your activity through social media creates conversation and brings people closer. I believe that being able to keep these memories and to be able to share these moments so easily is priceless.
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