I am by no means as experienced, talented, knowledgable or dedicated to photography as Stephen, and yet there this article absolutely rings true to me in my limited experience as a hobbyist photographer for over 20 years. Certainly the part about it being unsatisfying. Part of this for me is that digital photography has made it a bit of a numbers game – just take enough photographs of something and you’ll probably get at least something half-decent.
The initial convenience of digital photography which made the taking, processing and sharing of photos a breeze, has resulted in its near-ubiquity – everyone is a photographer nowadays.
I’ve tried to listen to the people who say that Instagram is more about communication than photography, a way of quickly showing friends what you’re up to – the “I’m eating a sandwich” approach to social media. But photography focussed online spaces that I loved (basically mid to late 2000s Flickr) have fallen by the wayside in favour of tiny, phone-sized photos, it doesn’t feel like there’s a place online for people who enjoy photography anymore.