We have all heard that in the post web 2.0 era, photos and video will replace text.
This is a scary thought for someone like me.
I was trained as a journalist. I spent my whole life writing. And thoughts in my mind have always taken the form of words and clusters of words and never of images.
My jaw dropped once, when my accountant told me that he could visualise the numbers on a balance sheet and turn them into images. How do you do that? I studied accountancy in high school but (no wonder!) I decided it wasn’t for me…
However, I have always been fascinated by pictures and the ability of photographers to capture the essence of a person or the spirit of a place.
That’s why my jaw dropped for the second time when I read Helmut’s article on RoubiMAGAZINE and saw Edward Steichen’s photographs.
Steichen’s ability to capture the character of his models is mind blowing.
I saw the photos from the exhibition at the Kunsthaus in Zurich and felt thrown back in time to the 1920s. The energy was so strong.
And the picture of Cary Cooper is surreal… almost three-dimensional.
Edward Steichen
Actor Cary Cooper, 1930
Courtesy Condé Nast Archive, New York
© 1930 Condé Nast Publications
I am not sure photos and video will manage to erase words and text from the face of the earth, as the evangelists of web 3.0 would like us to believe. I just can’t image it happening…. but if it happens, I hope there will be more Edward Steichens around….
Photo: thanks to Helmut Stampfli, Espaces Arts & Objects, Zürich
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There’s something about black&white photography that is timeless and beautiful. I guess it helps, too, if you happen to look like Gary Cooper…
I don’t think video will ever replace a well-written, thought provoking piece of writing. It can broaden our experience of the web though, by engaging some of our other senses. But social media video is still a long way off from the Oscars!