Ok, so that’s the bad news. But, there’s an upside. Before we get to that, let’s destroy this cliché that I hear all the time how “photographers brought it on”, because they didn’t do something to prevent it. All the bitching and whining about weak willed photographers who wont hold the line and clients who wont pay the fees. Commodification is a natural market process. You cannot stop this.
To see the upside you need to take a more nuanced view of photography. You need to consider photography services a value chain and the act of taking a picture, what I like to call being a “camera operator”, as one part of this value chain. You also need to understand that commodification occurs when the improvements to a product overshoot the needs of the client. Better equipment and techniques matter little to the majority of clients. There will always be exceptions, but sadly, it seems we are all past the point of good enough (even if in some parts of the industry good enough is distirbingly low). Nevertheless, don’t dwell on it. Technology that blew your mind ten years ago is now completely commodified. It can’t be stopped.
Things change.
Always.
When I bought my first Mac (a Plus) it cost a bit over $2000 and that was in 1986 dollars (nearly $7000 in todays bucks).
Computers - indeed computing - are now a commodity.
Things change. Whether you make things or make art, technological advances will be there to mix it up, challenge and destroy old models.
It also creates new ones.
Something a lot of 'old guys' don't seem to get.
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