Photo-Sharing Sites

Computers, the world wide web, and cellular phones have changed the world in which we live.  These technologies have had a huge impact on the medium of photography.  Photography is no longer limited to a camera and film, but it has jumped into the world of computers and phones and the world wide web!

In my last post, I shared with you a means through which photography could very negatively impact a person's life.  I talked about the incident with Michael Phelps and how a picture taken on a cell phone instantly took a private moment and made it massively public. Photography has become so mobile, so easy, so accessible that a picture can be taken anywhere, anytime, and by anyone.  In some cases, this is an unwanted phenomenon.

However, just as technology has it's downside, it also has an amazing and wonderful upside.  Today I would like to explore photography in relationship to photo-sharing websites. The great thing about photos is that they tell stories.  In and of themselves, they tell stories, and in conjunction with written word, they enhance stories.  Thus the explosion of photo-sharing websites isn't surprising because people love to share their stories, they love to share their lives with others, and photo-sharing websites enhance the sharing experience to a whole new level.

I have included a link below, which includes an article from The New York Times, which gives a short explanation along with feature comparisons of the top eight free photo-sharing websites on the web right now:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/technology/circuits/05pogue.html



The great thing about these sites is that they can be used in families, with sports teams, with friends.  I personally was exposed to Shutterfly this fall  when a website was created by a parent of my daughters' cross country team.  A private website was created.  This parent emailed the entire team, and if you were interested in having access to this site, you emailed her, and she would send you an invite to join.  It was a wonderful place for parents and runners to share their photos from the cross country meets, newspaper articles were posted there, as well as team results.  The nice thing about viewing photos from a variety of photographers is that you have a unique collection of memories for your viewing pleasure because each photographer has their own unique way of capturing the same event. It's like viewing a painting under different lighting or a different angle, each photographer creates a different perspective.  Another great feature of these websites is that you can have these photos printed and sent to you at your home.  You can pick and choose the photos that best capture the way you remember the day.  Another feature that makes these sites appealing is the feature of interacting by posting comments about the photos.  I think this also enriches the experience because pictures speak to us, and yet, what I see in a picture and what someone else sees in a picture can be completely different.  Posting thoughts about pictures gives us an insight into someone else's thoughts, and I always find that intriguing. It opens my mind to a world outside of my own.  Photography finds a niche in all our lives because it allows us to speak without saying a word!