A trend I've noticed in the social media era is something I call shooting for the thumbnail. What I mean by that is focusing on the impact of the image as it appears in a tiny thumbnail on the screen of a PC, tablet, or phone. Bright colors, tons of contrast, and often lots of bokeh draw your eye and those photos tend to be very popular on the web in general, but especially on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, 500px, Flickr, etc. Examples of my work are photos like this, all of which have been extremely popular on social media:
While there's nothing wrong with these photos, there are a lot of photos that don't look so good at this size and really need to be viewed as large prints or at least on a large monitor to be appreciated. The photos below are some of my most popular in terms of prints, but have drawn almost zero interest online:
Each of these photos have a large number of subtle details that can't be seen in a thumbnail.
This isn't a new phenomenon of course. If you walk into a American art museum, as I did when these artists were both on display, Andy Warhol's work will jump off the wall at you from down the hall, while Norman Rockwell's work won't even elicit a response. Up close, the Marilyn works from Warhol were interesting and catchy, but I quickly passed them and moved on to other work. When I reach Rockwell's work, I was mesmerized by the detail and layers in his paintings of the diners and soda shops. I probably spent 10 minutes with Warhol and over an hour with Rockwell despite there being twice as many Warhol works.
I guess the point of all this is that I worry not only that future generations are losing their appreciation for printed art/photos and large detailed works, but also that the instant gratification of the thumbnail will influence my own work.
What are your thoughts?
While there's nothing wrong with these photos, there are a lot of photos that don't look so good at this size and really need to be viewed as large prints or at least on a large monitor to be appreciated. The photos below are some of my most popular in terms of prints, but have drawn almost zero interest online:
Each of these photos have a large number of subtle details that can't be seen in a thumbnail.
This isn't a new phenomenon of course. If you walk into a American art museum, as I did when these artists were both on display, Andy Warhol's work will jump off the wall at you from down the hall, while Norman Rockwell's work won't even elicit a response. Up close, the Marilyn works from Warhol were interesting and catchy, but I quickly passed them and moved on to other work. When I reach Rockwell's work, I was mesmerized by the detail and layers in his paintings of the diners and soda shops. I probably spent 10 minutes with Warhol and over an hour with Rockwell despite there being twice as many Warhol works.
I guess the point of all this is that I worry not only that future generations are losing their appreciation for printed art/photos and large detailed works, but also that the instant gratification of the thumbnail will influence my own work.
What are your thoughts?
