Photography is approximately 206 years old and all along the way new processes and technological advances have changed the style and look of photographs and their availability to the masses. During the early stages of photography, the equipment was large, expensive, and required one to be part chemist and artist. Then along came a man named George Eastman who started a company called Kodak which brought the ability to take photographs to the general public. This year, 54,400 photos are taken every second, 196 million per hour, 4.7 billion per day, 32.9 billion per week, 143 billion per month, and 1.72 trillion per year.
The process of photography has changed. Photography is available to nearly everyone giving us a wider view of the world. I can take a photograph and upload it to the internet and give people around the world access to view it. We all truly have a global platform for our photography. We are no longer restricted to just our friends and family being able to see our work.
This change means to truly be noticed as a photographer and especially a fine-art photographer we must stand out above the crowd of millions of others taking photographs on a daily basis. No longer does it matter to have a university-trained “eye”, no longer does it matter to have top-of-the-line cutting-edge equipment. No longer does it matter if it is shot as film, jpeg, raw, or any other format.
What matters is the content. The final image. Virtually every day, I explore photographs from around the world. The creativity and vision of photographers I’ve never heard of nor are likely to ever meet in person but that I can often exchange ideas and converse are amazing to me. This is, to me, the most exciting time of photography and photographic art ever! Get out and explore photography from around the world as it will inspire you to create more.
Photographer Clay 
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