is the ubiquity of photgraphic technology...

C

captain easychord

Guest
is the ubiquity of photographic technology...

... changing music events in a fundamental way for everyone else?

most of the parties/shows i've been to recently are rife with people snapping away at performers and each other, often for the purposes of displaying in massive volumes on blogs and such. i get the increasing sense of dislocation from the event itself, like the whole thing is engineered for documentation.

i've seen lots not quite sure what the theoretical slant on this could be, but it's certainly a vibe killer to see the front row of a show entirely made up of cameras going off, people digesting the experience through their viewfinders. i

take this series of a david banner show, for example: http://styleslut.blogspot.com/

check the camera to spectator to performer ratio...

anyone else feeling this development?
 
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mms

sometimes
captain easychord said:
... changing music events in a fundamental way for everyone else?

most of the parties/shows i've been to recently are rife with people snapping away at performers and each other, often for the purposes of displaying in massive volumes on blogs and such. i get the increasing sense of dislocation from the event itself, like the whole thing is engineered for documentation.

i've seen lots not quite sure what the theoretical slant on this could be, but it's certainly a vibe killer to see the front row of a show entirely made up of cameras going off, people digesting the experience through their viewfinders. i

take this series of a david banner show, for example: http://styleslut.blogspot.com/

check the camera to spectator to performer ratio...

anyone else feeling this development?

its funny seeing people put their phones in the air rather than their lighters - taking snaps with them, flashes going off in the same way that people used to stick lighters up.
as if the real reward of being at the night isn't seeing the artist or enjoying the music but the chance to take snaps of them.

there are lots of paradoxes about the casual use of cameras - one is that cameras betray the real moment i think .
 
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sufi

lala
Was it John Berger who wrte about the way tourists use cameras, back in the 80s?
parallels: camera is a mediator, you begin to judge situations on different aesthetic - i.e will this be a good shot rather than is this a good experience, then when you get home the events that didnt get snapped are not as vivid so the recollections become based around the photos which are actual keepsakes edging out the intangible memories. 'how can i get a shot to represent this experience?'
tourists use cameras to distance themselves, to establish boundaries and power relationships; we discussed already on dissensus i think, about the power that photographers take from stealing the soul of the sitter,
maybe these grime voyeurs get the same sort of trip from filming events, maybe they can't chat so they validate their presence by doing visual arts, maybe they establish their own status in a threatening environment (mebbie by gathering potential evidence for blackmail?)....
 

PeteUM

It's all grist
It's a double-edged thing for a performer too. I was watching a mate of mine in a band and the sound was crap and they couldn't hear themselves, and we're obviously struggling a bit. But then when my friend relaxed and started goofing around a little it was all flashee flashee, and suddenly, y'know - the cameras had spoken. Performance legitmated and enhanced by Nokia.

And when I'm onstage myself it can throw you a bit because you start to second guess yourself, like "Oh they liked that, did they? Shall I do it again?" It's flattering up to a point and then you think "Oh... fuck off."

Interesting point though.
 
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