It’s not so much the volume of photographs being taken that is an issue but rather the quality of those being displayed. With traditional media looking to cut cost while their readership is dwindling, they have found no better measure than to reduce their photographic expenditure. Instead they turn to the mass produced and cheep ( read free) production of the so-called citizen journalists, convinced that volume will reap accidental quality, applying the “1000 monkeys in front of typewriters will eventually write a Shakespeare play” principle to photography. Except people are not monkeys.
The common man do not take pictures randomly. Instead, they will only take pictures of what directly affects him, assuming that his viewers know his background. They shoot with friends, family, co-workers in mind. People that already possess all necessary information to understand the context. Thus, they will take many images of fallen trees in their backyard, because that is what is relevant and important to them. They illustrate their lives, not the lives of others.

In other words, they will never be a replacement of the pro photojournalist by the masses of citizen journalist because the approach is completely different . One illustrate, documents, the other explains. One wants to reach his immediate acquaintances, the other, the world. One is living it, the other is describing it. Same event, different photography.

Sure, the citizen photojournalist will always have the advantage immediacy, of being there at the right place, at the right time. But that never goes beyond the accidental photography. In fact, sometimes, they even get beaten by automated security cameras. A machine.

So, it is not citizen photojournalisms that is to blame. People will take pictures, regardless. It is , rather, the poor judgement of the media who use those images in replacement of professional photography, assuming that the price they have paid justifies their poor quality. The result is an overwhelming indulgence for the “good enough” content that is plaguing our medias, forcing viewers to seek out, on their own, additional resources to satisfy their need of information. Maybe if you put 1,000 monkeys in front of typewriters for 1,000 years, they will eventually write a Shakespeare play, but a 1,000 monkeys for 1,000 years with a camera will never produce a Cartier Bresson.

Paul Melcher