The promotional strategy of being celebrity photographers can be understandable, as different photographers choose different means to promote themselves. However, the interpretations of photographic images and photos by the mass media can insert an unconscious impact on the public. The problems as a result of their influence are worth concern. In addition, the present development of the Internet and the popularity of digital devices, photography considered as a job is no longer as significant as it used to be, or rather, it has reached its end.
We feel that in the near future, photographers will appear in a different form. For instance, photography will become a self-representative medium, where photographs and images are just playing one aspect, and the key to succeed lies in a defined concept and overall management. By that time, the identity of the photographer will change dramatically. On the other hand, photography has been more and is becoming more a means of artistic expression, or a way of self-expression. When “photography” is mentioned, the first impression is related to a category or a medium of arts, such as painting and sculpture, rather than a kind of work. In a sense, practical photography has been dead, but as a visual art form of expression, it remains full of vitality.
“造星”式的攝影師推廣策略其實無可厚非,不 同攝影師可以選擇不同的營銷手段,只不過通 過大眾媒體對各種攝影產生的照片或者圖像的 解讀,會對公眾產生潛移默化的影響,這些影 響帶來的問題是值得我們考量的。此外,對於 當下,隨著互聯網的發展和數碼設備的普及,攝 影作為一個工種已經不再有以前那麼重要的地 位了,甚至可以說,作為一項工作,攝影已經走 向末路了。
我們覺得在不遠的未來,攝影師會以 一種不同的形式出現,比如攝影師將會成為一 批自媒體的代表,圖片和影像只是其中的一個 環節,明確的觀念性和整體的經營才是未來決 定一個攝影師成敗的關鍵,到那個時候,攝影 師的身份會發生巨大的轉變。另一方面來看,攝 影正在越來越多的成為一種藝術的表現手段, 或者說自我表達的一種渠道,以後提起“攝影”, 大家第一反應到的應該是一個像油畫或者雕塑 一樣的藝術門類或者介質,而不太會聯想到一 種工作。某種意義上來說,實用攝影已經死掉 了,但作為視覺藝術的表達方式,它依然充滿生 命力。
