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Social life
Andy Blackmore
Here are some of our favourite images from the world of social media this week
Former newspaper picture editor Andy Blackmore takes aim at the prevalent attitude of many of today’s publications – the curse of ‘good enough’ of it. That quest for excellence is dead. Now a new mantra is the order of the day – if it’s free, then it’s good enough. With the accountants in the driving seat, we’re on the road to nowhere.
Stephen Dinsdale @SPDPhotography The lone tree is a popular photographic trope, so it’s always good to see a fresh take. Here we see Stephen Dinsdale’s contribution, a textured image taken in the Yorkshire Dales. Join the conversation @AP_Magazine
Facebook Jeff Ashton Jeff has shot this striking image of one of the becks running into Haweswater Reservoir in the Lake District. The central boulder provides a perfect point of focus for us to tether our eye to in this visually sumptuous image.
© JEFF ASHTON
Budgets have always been an issue, and while slide rules may have given way to spreadsheets, the sentiment – or to be more precise, lack of it – remains the same. But those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing have no place in the driving seat. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Now, they say you can’t polish a turd, but you can cover it in glitter by harvesting material from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We’re faced with vacuous, shiny, celebrity gilding, as talentless and crass editors take the path of least resistance, and litter their pages with superficial celebrity titbits. Free content might seem free. But it comes at a cost – for ‘good enough’ is a curse, one that murdered the specialist journalist, while choking the freelance. It’s culling the experienced with one hand as it deprives the young of a sustainable future with the other. Perhaps I’m just bitter and twisted, as ‘good enough’ ended my career. But I still believe to this day that good enough can never truly be good enough.
© STEPHEN DINSDALE
The path of least resistance
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Our newspapers have transformed as the quest for free pictures intensifies
Andy Blackmore is a photographer and former picture editor of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday. Visit www.massnegro.wixsite.com/andyblackmore
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© JAMES WATTS/USALPTOY
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE OR TIME INC. (UK)
H
ave you ever wondered why all newspapers and websites are beginning to look the same? Or that they don’t seem as stylish as they used to? That they’re devoid of the class of their classic forbears regardless of pedigree? And that those images seem to have lost their punch? All in all they seem lacklustre and lack a certain je ne sais quoi. It’s because they have been struck down with the curse of ‘good enough’. Indulge me while I explain. The media is evolving, driven by a range of factors. However, one dominates. It’s a bit like modern car design. Modern cars tend to look the same as they evolve. They are all taking roughly the same path with the ultimate destination being the most efficient design, sharing such common goals as fuel efficiency and safety. It’s the same for newspapers and websites – they are all hurtling down the same road and the driver’s eyes are shut. With little regard for the reader, they grip the steering wheel and pray. They’re all united by the same common denominator – the curse of good enough. After my first ever shift as picture editor of the Guardian, as I crossed the Thames, with St Paul’s Cathedral on one side and the Houses of Parliament on the other, I held my head back and just screamed, ‘Yes! I’ve done it!’ Today, I think I’d jump into the Thames, as a lot of water has passed under that bridge. Back then the quest for excellence was the order of the day. But that’s no longer the case. As the race to the bottom has gathered pace, it has all become about the bottom line. It’s all about money, or more precisely the lack
usalptoy @usalptoy The US arm of the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition has highlighted this gorgeous image by James Watts, who travelled to Sparks Lake in Oregon. It makes you want to jump on a plane and see it for yourself. Follow us at @amateurphotographermagazine
11 February 2017 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113