These days ya need like 10,000 followers plus to even get noticed. I’ve done hundreds of Seminars and PhotoSafaris amassing over 200,000 students over the past 25 years, but students don’t add up to followers. I never wished to be an online sensation because I very much preferred the in person experience. A big mistake on my part I guess because people now seem to prefer that online experience. Oops!
Now the work necessary to feed the algorithms in order to accomplish this, is something I’m not willing to do. That work is 100 times more involved than I had to put in for the in person class, because I simply taught my class or led the seminar based upon the audience in attendance.
Now with online learning? You need to make your class for anyone that might tune in… today or in the future! Also? You need to feed the algorithms by answering every single comment or question in response to your online class! Holy crap Batman! That’s 24/7!
This is one reason Ai has become so widely used. You can feed ChatGTP a prompt or two and have the application churn out a years worth of blog posts… in seconds. You can program your website to answer those questions using Ai.
But! At what cost? I’m hearing how the app “gets to know you”… Man! That’s kinda scary isn’t it? The computer genius’s that developed FaceBook, Google, and many of the social networks were interviewed for the movie “The Social Dilemma,” released in September of 2020. When I watched this movie I could just feel that the entire story was not being told.
Clearly these people were kinda upset. Actually I think I’ll go rewatch this movie. At the time of my first viewing it was pretty clear to me that these creators were “appalled” at what they created and how it was being used.
A quick search on what the movie centers on gave me this… “the social and cultural impact of Social Media usage on regular users, with a focus on algorithmically enabled forms of behavior modification and psychological manipulation.” WOW! Scary stuff!
We are already very aware of the petabytes of information currently stored on all of us. Now imagine a computer actually using that information in addition to information freely fed into Ai applications? I’m sorry… do I need to go down that road? Do we?
Tristan Harris is one of the “stars” of the Social Dilemma. Star is in quotes here because the movie interviews many of the designers and tech industry insiders that were instrumental in the creation of many of the social networks we know today. Tristan Harris spent three years at Google as a Design Ethicist developing a framework for how technology should “ethically” steer the thoughts and actions of billions of people from screens.
Also interviewed were Tim Kendall, former director of monetization at Facebook and president of Pinterest, Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist and author, Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor, Aza Raskin, a former user experience head at Mozilla, Justin Rosenstein, a former Facebook engineering manager, and Shoshana Zuboff, a professor and author.
When I watched the movie the first time I was exceptionally impressed with the developer’s of these platforms. They are smart! Damn Smart! A quote from Tristan Harris… “we are worth more when we are addicted, outraged, polarized, misinformed and so on, than if we’re actually a thriving citizen who is critically examining his or her own choices and trying to make do in the world…” No wonder I’m broke! That quote is actually how corporate America sees us.
The Social Dilemma explores three main themes… technology addiction, how tech firms are reverse engineering our psychology, and how they are doing so to monetize our time. Think about this the next time you get your screen time report… It’s working isn’t it? Time is the only thing we can not buy… but they are doing it aren’t they?
Back in the day I was “forced” to read 1984 by George Orwell. I was impressed with this book and very happy I read it. The book is no longer “required reading” in schools. I wonder why? The novel examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated. Scary huh? Is it reality now? Ask yourself that question!
The Narrow Path: Why Ai Is Our Ultimate Test and Greatest Invitation
I invite you, no I challenge you, to take a minute and check out this Ted Talk by Tristan Harris. It was very enlightening for me personally. Lately I’ve been investigating my own use of time… You can view the Ted Talk by clicking the button bellow… But keep reading and then go check it out.
Are We Using Technology In A Good Way?
I’m asking a very difficult to answer question now… Why? Because everyone has their own interpretation of what that good way is. We are also very aware of the fact that many things can be used to promote good things by some, but that very same thing can be used to create disaster by others.
I love a lot of quotes by Henry David Thoreau. He went into the woods to live deliberately. He chopped the wood and it warmed him twice, once at work and once at rest. Our ancestors have done some pretty horrible things so that we have arrived, where we are today. I am not speaking solely of how we treated the African American. What about the Chinese? What about the Japanese? More importantly? What about the American Indian?
The American Indian was one of the original people to live “simply”… They wasted very little, they lived off the land, and in harmony with nature. I am no historian, and I know very little of the history of the American Indian…But what I do know, can appall me. We used technology to conquer these people, and then we placed those people on some of the worst land available in the Country.
What if the powers that be are doing that to us now? Technology wise, there are currently entire factories that run on Robotics. 24/7/365… zero breaks, no health insurance required, and the robots don’t ask for anything! The perfect employee. They just work. We are all currently witnessing self checkout. I avoid this at all costs, but once again it’s a runaway train.
I grew up in an age where you pulled into a service station and you got exactly that! Service! They filled your tank, (five gallons for a dollar!) washed your windows, checked the oil, aired up your tires… and gave you S&H Green Stamps! (youngsters… look those up ^_^ )
Then some bean counter came along and dreamed up “self service” and you could save a few cents if you pumped your own. Now? We pump our own and pay more!…
Geico Insurance. Save 15% or more on your insurance without that agent that looked after you. This was such a genius marketing plan Warren Buffet invested in the company big time! Giving the consumer a 15% discount actually made the company an additional 25 to 30% in overall profit. Berkshire Hathaway completely took over Geico in 1996.
I can tell you this… If we replace employees with robotics and self service? Who is going to buy your product? No body will have a job. We need to be far more careful with what we allow technology to do…
Vision, Imagination, and Creativity…
That is what my blog is supposed to be about… You might be asking yourself right this minute if that is the case? I’m trying to inform you about people with great vision. I’m also trying to have great vision myself. I’m not very smart, nor am I a very good writer. But I can tell you this!… I am now charmingly antique!
I remember how simple life was back when I was growing up. Then, while I was in High School, it got complicated. The Assignation of President John F. Kennedy, the Viet Nam War, Kent State, and so on and so on.
In my charmingly antique state, I yearn for simplicity,.. in a complicated world. I would love to inspire you to do the same… One of my best testimonials from a student said… “I have a great teacher in Garrett Winslow. He teaches Photography… No he teaches how to have a fulfilling life using Photography as a means to better observe and find beauty in the world around us.”
I’m trying to inspire you to get out of that rampant trap we are currently in! It’s a runaway train, I know…however…Get out of your phone! Simplify things! Invest in your own time, instead of the conglomerates out there that wish to monetize time you can not buy any more of…
Go down the path less traveled. Do it slowly. Look around you at all the lifeforms you seldom see or hear. Do not Photograph the entire forest. Photograph that weed in the shape of a heart. Look for light… light before you and inside of you.
Steve Jobs, one of the genius’s of our time, said,… the money and fame are not worth it. The memories are what you think of on your death bed. Are you creating memories? Are you capturing those memories with your Photography so that you might leave something to document what you saw and felt?
Do you love editing your Photography so that you might live in the moment again? I do! This is one of my greatest joys! Many Photographers look at editing their work as an unwanted chore. I’m sorry, for me it’s the opposite. While I’m editing my images I get to totally live the time of capture all over again, and every thing that led me down the path of creation. I also do not like to be disturbed when I’m editing… Do not take away my joy!
Do you love printing your Photography so that you, or someone that loves your work might enjoy it upon their walls? Or are you posting simplistic pictures online of your lunch today? Is that what you wish to leave us?
Do you cherish spending your time learning more about how to incorporate different techniques to embellish your art? Have you figured out a way to show me in your Photograph, how the forest smelled after the rain? Did you put me there? Can you make me feel it? How can you even begin to try if you did not take the time? Were you totally involved and one with the environment around you? Or were you somewhere else in your heart and in your mind?
The Great Artists Of All Time Have One Thing In Common
They set themselves apart in some way… They were, and are able to make a connection. You want to look at their creation. You want to take it in. You want to absorb it. They plainly show you what they see and feel. You are compelled to take it in. You form your own interpretations.
We are all different and see things differently… however successful artists appeal to the masses in some way, shape, or form… have you studied how to make the masses addicted to your work without an algorithm? Have you looked inside your soul and figured that out? Or are you simply creating pictures instead of composing a Photograph?
If taking pictures is all you wish to do that’s fine… However it’s not good enough for me. I want more. I wish to compose Photographs. There’s a huge difference. I wish to surround myself with others that wish to do the same. My time is valuable. I do not wish to spend that time glorifying some algorithm developed by a conglomerate to suck away my time, or monetize it for them.
Now the picture of me above is no piece of art. However! It is significant. At the time this was captured I had zero idea that it would be the last time I was on skis. Skiing was a very important part of my life. This was captured in January of 2002. I was married now, for only a few years, and my son was very young. When I skied it was daily. I was an Instructor, it was an addiction. I knew I could no longer keep that up.
This ski trip was taken because I missed it so much. It was something I had to deal with. I missed my mountain life. I just came across this image today. Frankly I had forgotten about it. It brought tears to my eyes. I remember my ski life in the mountains well. I yearn for it all the time. I can no longer ski,…my knees are completely shot, yet I can’t bear to sell or donate my skis.
The image above was also captured with my first digital camera, a Sony. At the time I knew Sony had a relationship with Zeiss. Very good glass! So I thought that might be a direction to move into. However until fairly recently Sony did not have a great line of glass to go with their cameras, so I stayed with Nikon. (and my very large investment in Nikon glass)
I have looked at my own work of the past few years and I’m not happy with a lot of it. Why? Because I forgot the above. They got me. I have spent too much of my time feeding their algorithms. The simplicity of my youth is calling. The quotes of Emerson, Frost, Muir, and Thoreau, just to name a few, should be remembered more by myself.
I should embody those quotes… I need to become one with the environment more… take my time. Sit there, stand there, or lay there… quietly. Look at the world around me. Smell the forest after a rain and capture that. If you are Photographing someone else… have you connected with them? Did you reveal their soul in your Photograph? Or is it a snap shot?
There needs to be more emotion in my work… how about yours? One thing is certain for me, so far… I have seen how technology can suck you in… Passion and Emotion? When that is gone? Yoda help us all!
This Month’s Featured Photographer Is David Edwards…
David’s Bio in his words…”David is a career journalist who took up photography several years ago as a resident of Las Vegas. He now lives in Germany, which has served as a base for his travels to places ranging from Morocco to Poland. David’s interest in photography was piqued around 2015, when he was freelancing for Russian Life magazine and decided he wanted to earn more for his articles by taking pictures to accompany them.
It was quite the turnaround. During his first journalism job, he was asked to take a picture of a bus, and it was so bad that the editor had to sit him down for a talk about the basics of photography. Meeting Garrett Winslow, going on PhotoSafaris with him and taking his image editing classes transformed David into a fine art photographer. He is a founding member of the ByWinslow Campfire group”
David has been studying with me for most of the past ten years. Slowly at first. He was limited by budget, and equipment, especially for the Digital Darkroom. The computer necessary to accomplish your work as a writer or an editor is a long ways away from a digital darkroom computer.
However one thing that always impressed me about David is his eye, and the way he looks at things. When David is in Photography mode he knows exactly what he wants to compose. When he is not with his camera David studies intently, Photographs, locations, and other artists.
I am very proud to be Davids Photography mentor. He’s gone from terrible images of a bus, and walking right through our shot on his first PhotoSafari with me, to a very fine artist. I’ve enjoyed watching him grow. I am also jealous of David and where he currently resides. However I get to live in his location through his art…
