Comments on: Democratisation? http://www.weareoca.com/photography/democratisation/ The Open College of the Arts Blog Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:59:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Gareth http://www.weareoca.com/photography/democratisation/comment-page-1/#comment-1090 Gareth Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:25:41 +0000 http://www.weareoca.com/?p=887#comment-1090 I am with your first para Peter but I have to take issue with your closing sentence. I remember reading Braverman many years ago and while his analysis might hold for a time in the twentieth century I am not sure it is generalisable beyond that - indeed the requirement for photojournalist to have both still and moving image capturing skills is surely a move in the opposite direction? Your recollection is correct Stan that part of the focus in the BJP was on feature film making. One of the areas where I think we would all agree is that the technology has decreased in price so significantly that there is no longer the obvious quality difference between Hollywood feature films and independent productions. Now all you need is a bit of kit, a family member and some imagination to create your show real (<a href="http://vimeo.com/hd#8166366" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/hd#8166366</a>) Oh and some imagination. I am with your first para Peter but I have to take issue with your closing sentence. I remember reading Braverman many years ago and while his analysis might hold for a time in the twentieth century I am not sure it is generalisable beyond that – indeed the requirement for photojournalist to have both still and moving image capturing skills is surely a move in the opposite direction?

Your recollection is correct Stan that part of the focus in the BJP was on feature film making. One of the areas where I think we would all agree is that the technology has decreased in price so significantly that there is no longer the obvious quality difference between Hollywood feature films and independent productions. Now all you need is a bit of kit, a family member and some imagination to create your show real (http://vimeo.com/hd#8166366) Oh and some imagination.

]]> By: Stan Dickinson http://www.weareoca.com/photography/democratisation/comment-page-1/#comment-989 Stan Dickinson Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:57:51 +0000 http://www.weareoca.com/?p=887#comment-989 I'm also on sticky ground here because although I read the articles it was some weeks ago and I don't have them to hand. However, am I not right in thinking that part of the focus at least was on the making of feature films. In this context, democratisation may well imply that the small, independent film-maker has the opportunity, with suitably equipped DSLRs to achieve a high quality of output at a fraction of the cost of hiring expensive film cameras. My son has recently played a small part in an indy film (unpaid, and I doubt that an Oscar is on the cards!) in which the entire footage is being shot on Canon 5Ds. He was quite surprised but I, having just read these articles in BJP, wasn't. I’m also on sticky ground here because although I read the articles it was some weeks ago and I don’t have them to hand. However, am I not right in thinking that part of the focus at least was on the making of feature films. In this context, democratisation may well imply that the small, independent film-maker has the opportunity, with suitably equipped DSLRs to achieve a high quality of output at a fraction of the cost of hiring expensive film cameras. My son has recently played a small part in an indy film (unpaid, and I doubt that an Oscar is on the cards!) in which the entire footage is being shot on Canon 5Ds. He was quite surprised but I, having just read these articles in BJP, wasn’t.

]]> By: Peter Haveland http://www.weareoca.com/photography/democratisation/comment-page-1/#comment-988 Peter Haveland Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:40:10 +0000 http://www.weareoca.com/?p=887#comment-988 The democratisation of the arts, particularly image making, is something that has been heralded almost since the beginning of the photographic era. Ever since Kodak announced "You press the shutter, we do the rest" conservatives have prophesied the end of art, and progressives, like Walter Benjamin, have heralded art by all, the demystification of the art object and the end of the concept of talent (see his "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction". The 20s and 30s of the last century saw the rise of many Workers art, particularly photography groups worldwide; The Workers Film and Photo League in the USA, groups based on the magazine Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (AIZ)in Germany, in Britain the Workers Education Association and Mass Observation lead to a range of Camera clubs and the like. However, a review of the entries into any amateur photography competition will show that the universal availability of good quality, affordable cameras does not guarantee universally good, in aesthetic terms, images. Yes, hidden ability is sometimes revealed, particularly in eras of restricted education, but as a re-reading of Benjamin with this in mind indicates, the true democratisation is predicted only in a changed, non-Capitalist, Socialist, Anarchist or what ever, but certainly 'truly' democratic society. it seems that what we have found is that photography and latterly digital video has made the creative process available to all but that the output is still dependant on ability and awareness (talent?) and that ideas based on the concept of Cultural Capital (see Pierre Bordieu et al) are needed to explain this. "What video capable DSLR’s are doing is making it possible for photojournalists to become film makers" is perhaps the nub of the matter. Video recording made it possible for the TV companies to cut the size of news gathering crews (potentially raising their profits/lowering their losses and putting numbers of technicians out of work) with a minimal loss of quality (some say) and the ability to use one person for both stills and video extends this trend for the proliferation of libraries, news agencies, TV production companies in the age of digital broadcasting. The logical conclusion to all this, at least under our current ideology, is the total hegemony of the 'citizen journalist'. News and TV agencies will not hire journalists at all but simply use camera phone images, still and moving, obtained for free or nearly so from passers by for the momentary glory of a credit (This image of the back of the head of the Queen launching the latest replacement for Trident is brought to you by Fox News and supplied by Mr Albert Snodgrass of Railway Cuttings East Cheam). Democratisation might be the excuse but higher profitability is the motive. De-skilling (see Harry Braverman "Labour and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century") is the sociological term for it and is general trend of Capitalism. The democratisation of the arts, particularly image making, is something that has been heralded almost since the beginning of the photographic era. Ever since Kodak announced “You press the shutter, we do the rest” conservatives have prophesied the end of art, and progressives, like Walter Benjamin, have heralded art by all, the demystification of the art object and the end of the concept of talent (see his “The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”. The 20s and 30s of the last century saw the rise of many Workers art, particularly photography groups worldwide; The Workers Film and Photo League in the USA, groups based on the magazine Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (AIZ)in Germany, in Britain the Workers Education Association and Mass Observation lead to a range of Camera clubs and the like. However, a review of the entries into any amateur photography competition will show that the universal availability of good quality, affordable cameras does not guarantee universally good, in aesthetic terms, images. Yes, hidden ability is sometimes revealed, particularly in eras of restricted education, but as a re-reading of Benjamin with this in mind indicates, the true democratisation is predicted only in a changed, non-Capitalist, Socialist, Anarchist or what ever, but certainly ‘truly’ democratic society. it seems that what we have found is that photography and latterly digital video has made the creative process available to all but that the output is still dependant on ability and awareness (talent?) and that ideas based on the concept of Cultural Capital (see Pierre Bordieu et al) are needed to explain this.

“What video capable DSLR’s are doing is making it possible for photojournalists to become film makers” is perhaps the nub of the matter. Video recording made it possible for the TV companies to cut the size of news gathering crews (potentially raising their profits/lowering their losses and putting numbers of technicians out of work) with a minimal loss of quality (some say) and the ability to use one person for both stills and video extends this trend for the proliferation of libraries, news agencies, TV production companies in the age of digital broadcasting. The logical conclusion to all this, at least under our current ideology, is the total hegemony of the ‘citizen journalist’. News and TV agencies will not hire journalists at all but simply use camera phone images, still and moving, obtained for free or nearly so from passers by for the momentary glory of a credit (This image of the back of the head of the Queen launching the latest replacement for Trident is brought to you by Fox News and supplied by Mr Albert Snodgrass of Railway Cuttings East Cheam). Democratisation might be the excuse but higher profitability is the motive. De-skilling (see Harry Braverman “Labour and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century”) is the sociological term for it and is general trend of Capitalism.

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