Photoblog Categories Wednesday June 8, 2005
Photoblog culture and development is in my opinion one of the most interesting features of the internet. First there was the home page, then the blog, and then the photoblog. Major sites like fotonet and flickr may impact on this culture, especially the latter which has implemented community-building strategies with a slick interface, and is hugely popular. They recently changed their Flash presentation for XHTML, which also improves the download/display time – a major problem I have with flickr, because although improved, I still find it too slow. But whatever impact flickr has the photoblog is here to stay, enjoyed by thousands of people around the world, and it is interesting to consider their different types.
The majority of photoblog content is diary based, and in that respect they derive from the text blog that preceded it. Some people find blogs terribly mundane and boring, complaining that they are not interested in reading about what someone ate for breakfast. Other people insist this is not the point; their value lies in their community/networking potential, and the fact that people can do it – anyone, anywhere, can tell the world what their life is like. I don’t have a strong opinion either way. I agree that much of the content is uninteresting, but occasionally find a site that catches my attention. Additionally, their meaning is not defined by outside commentators, but by the people who create them and the social networks to which they are related. What someone had for breakfast could be very interesting for someone, somewhere, who might be a friend, relation or complete stranger.
The early editorials I read about photoblogs emphasised this aspect; I remember one in particular describing how they can give you visual access to someone’s life in California, India, Russia or anywhere else. Student, soldier, plumber or waitress…they’re all out there, with their photoblogs. It’s a remarkable and exciting idea, that we have access to personal diary-photos from all around the world. I have a few favourites that I visit most days, because I enjoy seeing into that person’s experience of life. I especially like
yourwaitressphotos
joesnyc
chromasia
orbit1
funtigo
catherinejamieson
Another format is the portfolio site that tends to be updated less frequently, and gives less insight into someone’s personal life. Jameslomax.com is more of a portfolio than a diary because I generally post images I think have some photographic merit, and they are not necessarily recent. In fact in this early stage of my site I am constantly browsing through the archive on my hard drive, more than current work.
This is probably the main distinction – diary or portfolio – although it then leads to further classifications derived from traditional photographic genres. Thus you have the landscape collection, the urban collection, and so on. The reasons why people do it also helps define the photoblog category, and one of the common factors seems to be to experiment and improve your work. This becomes a ‘working space’ photoblog, using the community to improve and refine your creativity.
I struggled to work out exactly what I wanted to with jameslomax.com and the breakthrough came when I noticed a site that had a front page with a ‘words’ link that took you to an inner section with a journal. It was thus a dual function site, both blog and photoblog, and this navigation feature made me realise it was what I wanted. Suddenly, it fell into place. I love photography, the communication potential of the internet which is easy, inexpensive and 24/7, but I’m not satisfied only with photos. I’ve got things to say as well; I like to write. Jameslomax.com is quite similar to a magazine with an attractive cover. I no longer read blogs or web sites very much, which I attribute to years of experience with the internet and a slowly accumulating fatigue with VDU displays. Photos, however, are very different; in some respects the VDU display is superior to a print because it is dynamically illumined, as with a slide projector. I leave my favourites open in Firefox and refresh them almost every day (if I leave my computer switched on), and it takes me a few minutes to see the updates. I have never used the VDU for extensive textual reading. My site gives people the option to do the same as me, or to browse the Words if they wish. I want an attractive front-page photo that is itself a reason for visiting, rather than a dynamically updated text entry that certainly has an attractive power, but which is not inherently attractive, compared to an image. Inside though, you also find dynamically updated text – although it’s not a daily feature, and has the logic more of magazine articles than a diary.
