I have considered a post about this topic for a while. The original thought was to discuss whether things like camera traps could be considered to be 'proper photographs'... whether there was any artistic merit in them. After all - if you look at photos from one of those tree cams, that people set up to capture wildlife that happens to wander into the frame, other than framing the scene without the subject, there's no other thought that goes into these pictures until later, when picking out the ones in which whatever subject wandered in and got captured - happens to be in the right place. The so-called "decisive moment"
was left up to a proximity sensor. Where is the artistry in that? National Geographic photographers have done this for years, and for good reason. Some of those animals are pretty ferocious. The photographer is either not present at all, or is a very safe distance away so he/she doesn't get eaten. Lately there is the case where a photographer actually set up his camera on a tripod and let some macaque monkeys take selfies: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8615859/Monkey-steals-camera-to-snap-himself.html The photos are amazing. But the US copyright office is now saying that the pictures cannot be copyrighted because the photographer didn't actually press the button. So - what about all those camera traps that NatGeo photographers used to capture their shots? And surely a monkey can't copyright images! Where do we go from here? If you look at the process for creating photographs, or any art for that matter, the picture begins with a photographer's 'vision'. It begins with having an idea of the photograph you want to make. I suppose in the case of the traps, or even the selfies - there is an idea about what can happen. Skip ahead to the developing process, and you have a bunch of shots from which you select the ones that look best. This is the process. If this entire process is automated... does it matter? The vision is yours - the photographer. The equipment and the location was selected by you, the photographer. My opinion is that these photographs are indeed yours. There's lots more written on this copyright issue. It will have a bearing on photography in the coming years, as technology continues to offer us more and more and open up new and different opportunities.
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John T."Photographs capture my viewpoint - based on my place on this planet, where I've been and who I am. If you 'get it' then you've been there too, either in mind, body, heart or soul." Also see the "EauPositivePhotography" pages for other stuff
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