Not all that long ago, photography required a fair amount of study and skill to master technically. Both professionals and amateurs possessed a knowledge of film, the darkroom, chemistry, development, optics, cameras, light and exposure just to name a few. With the advent of digital capture and cameras that do everything but brew a cup of coffee, this knowledge is no longer required to make a photograph.

The accessibility of photography has changed the very nature of the medium. Anyone off the street can purchase a camera on a lunch break and have prints in hand by the time they are finished eating. Add to the equation social networking sites such as Flickr and we now have the ability to publish photographs world wide instantaneously.

Has the digital age ruined photography? Are those of us that make a living as photographers and artists destined to fade into the background, obscured by the never ending stream of snap shots we are forced to digest every day? Has modern photography really come down to the best of the mediocre?

When photography was a little more difficult it was also self leveling. The amount of time involved in the process was enough to keep most people out of the game. In turn that investment of time made the photographer take his or her work more seriously. The harder you work, the sweeter the prize. This has been lost in the digital age. We don’t have to make the shot the first time, instead we burn 300 frames and hope something in the middle comes out. Cameras meter light and balance color, lenses focus themselves, plastic printers knock out prints in a matter of minutes.

The lack of investment has lead us to a world saturated with perishable photographs. Images today have a shelf life of about 5 minutes. Photographers are less concerned with making great photographs than they are with getting those photographs onto the front page of Flickr.

Of course I could be wrong, who knows if any of us are really photographers.