I am honored to have been interviewed recently for the blog, The Most Talented People In The World. The blog, which is run by Jennifer Stoots, dares to ask, in a fast-paced, digitally dependent world, is there still a need for classic, analog ideas and education?
Few professions are dependent on a single concept or tool; while it is important to be able to work with and incorporate new technology, success in many areas still relies on a working knowledge of historical precedents, creativity and, above all, hands-on experience.
In her blog, Stoots seeks out and interviews various professionals in the arts and sciences who all have one similar and undeniable trait. They all exist and work in the digital world, but began their careers and have experience doing their same job under a completely different set of circumstances–before the job was dependent on microprocessors, digital chips and sensors. Before social networks, when you had to rely on experience and abilities over apps and computer programs. I am proud to be a small part of this project because I believe in Stoots’ mission, that you need to be educated in what you are doing, not just how to use a program that accomplishes a task. Because ultimately any knowledge base is built on generations of people before us, but an app is only as good as the programmer behind it.
For me, todays real-world example in photography of this phenomenon is truly apparent in the multitudes of plugins and actions that are readily available for Photoshop. Some of them are true additions to a program that has been around for a very long time, but as I’ve been working with the program since version 3 (that would be 1994!), I notice that most of the bundles available today, do things that are easily accomplished within Photoshop itself. All the hard-earned money you pay for those shortcuts doesn’t get you anything more than you already have and in some cases, limits the control you need to make the end product truly your own.