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30 Reasons Why Photography is So Important in Today’s World

Learn why taking pictures with your camera is so important in today's world, not just on the personal and professional level but also for society as a whole.

Learn | By Jeff Collier

There are many reasons why photography is important in everyday life, both personally and professionally.

After all, photography is an art form and an opportunity to preserve reality for future generations.

Taking pictures with a digital camera, an instant camera, or even just your phone is a fantastic way to capture precious moments.

I believe photography is a universal language, and I’d love to take you through some of the top reasons why photography is important.

Keep reading this guide for 30 examples of how photography makes the world a better place.

Table of Contents

Why Photography is Important in our Personal Lives

Credit: William Fortunato

1. Beautiful photos preserve memories of family and friends

Perhaps the biggest importance of photography is the ability to preserve memories. Old friends, new friends, meaningful experiences… they can all be captured in photographs.

One day you’ll look back through your life with old photos and be thankful you snapped pics.

Whether stored in a picture album or scrapbook or uploaded to social media, photos of your daily life represent the important moments that make you who you are.

This is why taking pictures is important.

• Read more: How do you take good family photos?

2. Pictures speak a thousand words

Many of the photography quotes floating around the internet have been said about this.

Photography shows different perspectives and helps us connect with one another.

You may miss things in the moment, but looking back on a photo, you can grasp the magnitude of a special occasion or life-changing event.

The highs and lows of life may all be captured on camera, and when words fail, photos serve as a valuable reminder.

3. Photography fosters meaningful relationships

Personal photography helps loved ones stay connected, too.

In today’s world, you have the advantage of sharing digital images with family and friends across the internet and social media.

Even if you can’t be with them in person all the time, you can share your own pictures and keep up with everyone’s lives.

Sharing images of friendly get-togethers, family trips, and other important memories help maintain a strong connection no matter where you are in the world.

4. Photography is an easy hobby

With today’s cloud storage and digital cameras, it’s easier than ever before to get started in photography.

Boost your mental health and capture the most precious moments while embracing your creative side.

Plus, you never know when a photography hobby could turn into something more.

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5. Photography is a learning experience

Photography is one way to challenge yourself and continue learning all the time.

Thanks to high-quality camera phones and online tutorials, you can learn the art of photography anytime, anywhere.

This is great for self-expression, creativity, and critical thinking.

6. Photography helps you embrace adventure

Once you fall in love with photography as a form of self-expression and creativity, you won’t go back.

Your eyes will be open to new places and experiences, especially if you have a quality camera to capture images along the way.

Photography can inspire you to travel and try things you’ve never done before, leading to both beautiful photos and personal growth.

7. Photography teaches technical skills

As a beginner photographer becomes more comfortable with their camera, they learn skills to share with others.

For example, after taking children’s home portraits for fun, you can share with your loved ones what you know about cameras.

If you’re able to point out the shutter button and explain how cameras work, you may inspire your family and friends to try photography, too.

• Read more: Easy-to-understand guide to camera settings for beginners

8. Photography unlocks emotion

Why is photography important for human relationships?

Well, not only is it an excellent creative outlet, but it also encourages healthy emotions and new perspectives.

Two photos with the same composition can evoke different feelings for different people, and it’s healthy to talk about these things.

You can strengthen relationships by reflecting on an important moment in a photograph.

9. Picture albums trace family history

Many people also find photography important because it offers a look into the past.

Long-lost relatives, personal possessions, family characteristics… the list of potential observations in a family photograph goes on and on.

If you want to learn more about where you came from, a picture album could hold the insights you’re looking for.

10. Photo art makes a house feel like home

Who doesn’t appreciate beautiful art on the walls?

A large printed photo can make quite an impact in any living space. If you plan your photo choices to match the interior design, that’s even better.

Plus, photo decor lets you tie in your own personality by choosing images that inspire you, such as cityscapes or nature shots.

• Read more: How big can you print a photo?

Why Photography Is Important in the Business World

Credit: Andrea Piacquadio

12. Photography represents business goals

One of the many uses of photography is in the business sector.

Photos are a visual language, delivering a valuable message for businesses trying to connect to their audience.

Many photographers are hired by businesses big and small to capture the essence of their brand and appeal to new and current customers.

Any business wanting to grow can benefit from professional photography, with captivating images for advertising and brand awareness.

12. Photography is used to document events

Another reason why photography is important is that it helps businesses experiment, discover and promote new ideas.

From product launches to grand openings, all of the biggest business achievements can be captured on camera to share with the world.

A primary purpose of photography in the business sector is to keep records for posterity.

To understand the importance of historical photography, just look at big businesses back in the day – like early automakers and tech companies that had no idea what their inventions would turn into for future generations.

• Read more: How do you photograph events?

13. Photos break cultural barriers

what is the importance of photography? it breaks down barriers. Photography inspires millions of people around the world, even with totally different backgrounds, languages, and ways of life.

Businesses can connect with a wider audience using the perfect shot of a product, event, or location.

Travel and real estate photography provide some excellent examples. People are inspired by beautiful buildings and places no matter where they are.

14. Photography helps you make money

Businesses of all sizes use photos for branding purposes, which in turn helps them sell products and services.

Professional photography can set your business apart from the rest and attract new attention from potential customers.

If you’re looking to boost sales, try investing in quality images for social media, website, and print advertising.

• Read more: 14 ways to make money with your photography

15. Images demonstrate different perspectives

There are so many ways to compose images and send messages through photography.

Businesses can use photos to tell a story of their humble beginnings and where they are today.

Pictures also help businesses relate to their customers and provide examples of why people may need a particular good or service in their life.

16. Photos help build team culture

Photography is important for a healthy and happy workplace, too.

Businesses can use inspiring photos to decorate their office space and make it a more positive, uplifting place to work.

A few camera snaps at a work function may also come in handy for communicating team accomplishments and spreading the word about exemplary employees.

17. Photographs make brands human

In today’s life, consumers want to relate to brands and will make buying decisions based on brand values.

Photographs are used on product packaging, social media, and traditional advertising to give consumers a better idea of what to expect when buying a certain brand.

A business photographer who understands the art of brand imagery helps companies connect with like-minded people who can benefit from their products.

18. Photography gives us a closer look

Over the course of history, numerous discoveries have been made through up-close photography.

Many people have called photography proof of science. It makes sense, given our reliance on photography in the science, medical, and technology fields.

Businesses can use a scientific photo to back up their findings, secure project funding, and gain public support.

19. Photography is versatile

With cutting-edge technology and interchangeable lenses, photo possibilities are endless.

More and more businesses find photography important as a way to increase brand recognition and enhance customer relations at the same time.

Why not invest in a photo shoot that will yield tangible, multi-purpose marketing materials?

20. Photography can go toward a good cause

Photography also matters in the business world because photos can be donated to a community cause.

For example, a photo auction may raise money for local nonprofits while also generating awareness.

Photography often opens people’s eyes to bigger problems going on in the world.

Homelessness, animal abuse, and endangered species are just a few examples of photography subjects to inspire change.

Why Photography is Important in Society

Credit: Brett Sayles

21. Photos provide scientific evidence

There is so much we cannot see with our own eyes.

Thankfully, camera images have proven incredibly important throughout history, allowing scientists to conduct research and provide proof of their discoveries.

Without pictures, we wouldn’t have documentation of the sun, the moon, and Earth itself from up above.

22. Photography is an excellent creative outlet

Everyone can benefit from a bit of art in their life, and photography is open to people of all ages and skill levels.

Little ones may pick up a camera and snap a few photos, while experienced photographers focus on getting the perfect composition.

No matter what, photography gets your creative juices flowing, which is great for mental health.

• Read more: Do you know these 20 creative photography picture ideas?

23. Photography builds awareness

Photographs play a valuable role in social causes, such as poverty, addiction, and lack of clean drinking water.

These are just a few examples of causes that use photography to generate support and awareness.

After all, once you see a photo of a problem, it’s much more difficult to ignore. Many people are inspired to give back when they see photos that trigger an emotional response.

24. Photography encourages self-expression

Society benefits from creativity and communication, and photography is an important form of self-expression for many people.

Pictures provide insight into both like-minded people and those who are very different from you.

We can all learn more about the world around us by looking closely at photos and what they represent.

25. Photography is a shared interest

Throughout history, photography has brought countless people together in the pursuit of creativity.

Community connection is invaluable to society, and every photographer can find like-minded people who share their passion for snapping photos.

Whether you’re interested in portraits, still life, sports, or art photography, you’re sure to discover other photographers you can learn from.

26. Photographs capture a moment in time

History is another reason why photography is important to society.

Photos represent a single moment from a certain time frame and can be referenced for generations to come.

So many of the moments that have changed the world forever are documented in photographs.

Photography has proven to be one of the most effective ways of sharing history and learning different perspectives.

27. Photographs promote climate change action

Throughout history, photographs have often been the first clue of climate change.

I find photography important because without before and after photos of coral reefs, rainforests, and other natural wonders, we wouldn’t know how much they’ve changed.

Photography proves that the world is changing and encourages humans to do their part to slow down climate change.

28. Photography encourages smarter decisions

Photography is important as an art form that helps people learn from history.

Lunch Atop A Skyscraper is one of my favorite examples. This iconic 1932 photograph of construction workers having a casual lunch break above the city shows how dangerous work conditions once were.

In today’s world, the building industry is much more regulated to ensure safety.

There are countless other examples of historic photographs that society has remembered and learned from over time.

29. Photography is a medium of information

Photography doubles as a form of art and news.

Society gleans valuable information from photographs, which are used in daily news stories across the world.

It’s incredible how much we can all take away from documentary-style photos captured by journalists everywhere.

Whether it’s an unfolding emergency or a feel-good news story, photos help us understand what’s happening in the world around us.

30. Photography teaches cultural awareness

Last but not least, one more reason why photography is important is that it encourages people to be more aware of other countries and cultures.

If you never saw photos or videos from faraway countries, how much would you know about them? Probably not a lot.

Photos are a window into different ways of life. Images show us what people look like, what they do, and what matters most in every corner of the globe.

The more we understand and embrace one another, the better.

Taking Pictures is Important! Final Words

How is photography important in your everyday life? What do you get out of taking pictures at home or work?

By embracing the many benefits of photography as a universal language, you can capture important events and cherished memories.

Photography also allows you to make positive contributions to society and help people connect with one another through powerful imagery.

I hope this list of reasons why photography is important inspires you to keep taking pictures in your everyday life.

Can you think of other reasons why photography is important? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Check out these 8 essential tools to help you succeed as a professional photographer.

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Jeff Collier is an experienced film photographer who enjoys experimenting with modern digital photography equipment, software and apps. He’s also an ex-world champion triathlete and avid cyclist, clocking hundreds of km each week in the beautiful Tweed Valley of northern NSW, Australia.

Great collection of tips! Nicely written. Thx

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Home » All articles » The Role of Photography in Society: A Look at the Power of Visual Storytelling

The Role of Photography in Society: A Look at the Power of Visual Storytelling

In today’s visually-driven world, photography has emerged as a powerful tool for storytelling, capturing moments, and conveying emotions. From photojournalism to social media, the impact of photography on society is undeniable. In this blog post, we will explore the role of photography in society, delving into its ability to inform, inspire, and create connections. Join us as we delve into the power of visual storytelling and how photography continues to shape our understanding of the world around us.

Table of Contents

The Historical Significance of Photography in Society

Photography has played a pivotal role in shaping society’s understanding of the world and documenting important moments throughout history. Through the power of visual storytelling, it has become a medium that captures emotions, conveys narratives, and preserves memories for future generations.

Preserving History in Frames

Photography allows us to freeze a moment in time and encapsulate the essence of an event or place. Through photographs, we gain a tangible connection to the past and are able to visually experience historical moments that would otherwise be lost. These images have the ability to evoke emotions and provoke conversations, making them significant tools for studying history.

Shaping Public Opinion

Photographs have the power to shape public opinion and provoke social change. Iconic images such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph “Napalm Girl,” that depicts a young girl fleeing a napalm attack during the Vietnam War, helped raise awareness and change public sentiment about the conflict. By capturing the atrocities of war, photography can influence public opinion and fuel movements for justice and peace.

Documenting Social Progress

Photography has been instrumental in documenting social progress and bringing attention to important social issues. Through visual storytelling, photographers have exposed the hardships faced by marginalized communities, sparking conversations about inequality, injustice, and discrimination. From images capturing the Civil Rights Movement to the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, photography has shed light on the struggles and triumphs of marginalized groups and influenced societal change.

Expanding Cultural Knowledge

Photography brings different cultures and ways of life closer to us. By capturing diverse traditions, rituals, and landscapes, it broadens our understanding of the world and cultivates cultural empathy. Photographs allow us to travel through time and space, connecting us with people and places we may never encounter in person. Through photography, cultural barriers are broken, facilitating cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

Personal Expression and Connection

In addition to its societal impact, photography serves as a medium for personal expression and connection. It allows individuals to tell their own stories and share their unique perspectives with others. Through photography, we can capture and express emotions, moments of joy or grief, and communicate our ideas and experiences to others. In a fast-paced world, photography provides a means to pause, reflect, and connect on an emotional level.

The historical significance of photography lies in its ability to preserve history, shape public opinion, document social progress, expand cultural knowledge, and facilitate personal expression and connection. By capturing and sharing visual narratives, photography has the power to impact society, fostering understanding, empathy, and change. Whether documenting historical events or personal experiences, photography continues to be an integral part of our human experience.

The Power of Visual Storytelling: The Evolution of Photography as a Medium in Society

Photography: a visual chronicle of human experience.

Photography has undergone an astounding evolution – from its humble beginnings as a mere scientific curiosity to becoming one of the most powerful mediums for visual storytelling in modern society. The development of photography has brought forth an array of opportunities for individuals and communities to communicate narratives, preserve memories, and document history.

The Emergence of Photography

In the early 19th century, photography emerged as a revolutionary invention. The pioneers of photography, such as Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot, painstakingly mastered the techniques of capturing and fixing images. Their innovative ideas led to the birth of the daguerreotype and calotype processes – the precursors to modern photography.

Photography as Witness to History

As photography progressed, it quickly assumed the role of an unbiased witness to history. Photographs became invaluable tools for documenting significant events, capturing truthful moments that would otherwise fade from recollection. From the first photograph taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 to the haunting images of war by renowned photographers like Robert Capa, photography has helped shape our collective memory and understanding of crucial historical moments.

Photography as a Form of Expression

Beyond its role in documenting history, photography has emerged as a powerful form of artistic expression. Photographers employ composition, lighting, and perspective to convey emotions, provoke thoughts, and ignite discussions. Through their carefully crafted images, they tell stories that transcend language barriers, making photography a universal language of human experiences.

Photography in the Age of the Internet

The advent of the internet and social media platforms has further catalyzed the evolution of photography. Online spaces serve as platforms for photographers to share their work with global audiences, amplifying their impact. With just a click, anyone can become a visual storyteller – capturing moments, sharing narratives, and engaging with communities across the globe.

The Social Impact of Visual Storytelling

Photography plays a pivotal role in society, as it promotes empathy, raises awareness, and drives social change. Powerful visual narratives can influence public opinion and shape attitudes towards pressing issues such as climate change, social inequality, and human rights. By presenting compelling images that reveal truth and evoke emotions, photographers inspire viewers to take action and become agents of positive change.

The Future of Visual Storytelling

As technology advances, photography will continue to evolve as a medium of visual storytelling. Innovations such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence present new avenues for photographers to push boundaries and create immersive experiences that transport viewers into unseen realities.

In conclusion, the evolution of photography from its humble beginnings to its current state as a powerful medium of visual storytelling has had a profound impact on society. Photography serves as a chronicler of human experiences, a catalyst for change, and a universal language that transcends barriers. In a world increasingly driven by visual content, the power of photography as a storytelling tool will only continue to grow, connecting individuals, communities, and generations through the shared language of imagery.

Influence of Photography on Social and Cultural Movements

The power of visual storytelling.

Photography has had a profound impact on social and cultural movements throughout history, playing a crucial role in shaping our understanding of society and the world at large. The medium’s ability to capture and convey powerful visuals has allowed it to become a catalyst for change and a tool for social commentary.

Capturing the Essence of Society

Through the lens, photographers have been able to document and immortalize moments that reflect the reality of society. These images have the power to evoke emotions and connect with viewers on a deep, personal level. Whether it’s a photograph of a war-torn landscape or an intimate portrait of everyday life, photography has the power to challenge the way we see the world.

Changing Perceptions

Photography has the ability to challenge preconceived notions and challenge the status quo. By capturing images that go against the grain, photographers can shed light on marginalized communities and bring attention to social issues that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Through their work, they can create a platform for dialogue and inspire action.

Amplifying Voices

Photography has the unique ability to amplify the voices of those who may not have had a platform otherwise. By sharing their stories through visual narratives, photographers can draw attention to the struggles and triumphs of underrepresented communities, giving them a voice and empowering them to advocate for change.

Shaping History

Photographs have the power to become iconic, representing a specific moment in time that has had a lasting impact on society. From the iconic image of a soldier during World War II to the haunting photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, these visuals have become symbols of historical significance and have played a crucial role in shaping our collective memory.

Breaking Boundaries

Photography has the ability to transcend language and cultural barriers. A single photograph has the power to communicate a universal message that can be understood by people from all walks of life. This universal language allows photography to connect people from different backgrounds, fostering a sense of empathy and understanding.

A Catalyst for Change

Throughout history, photography has been at the forefront of social and cultural movements. From the early documentary photography of Jacob Riis to the powerful images of the Black Lives Matter movement, photographers have used their craft to document injustice and inspire change. By shining a light on the issues that matter most, they encourage society to confront uncomfortable truths and work towards a more equitable future.

In conclusion, photography is a powerful form of visual storytelling that has the ability to influence social and cultural movements. Its ability to capture and convey emotions, challenge perceptions, amplify voices, shape history, break boundaries, and act as a catalyst for change has made it an essential tool for photographers looking to make an impact on society. Through their lens, photographers have the power to shape the narrative and inspire action, making photography a crucial component in our understanding of the world around us.

Ethical Considerations in Photography and its Impact on Society

Photography has always played a crucial role in shaping our society. It has the power to capture moments, evoke emotions, and tell powerful stories. However, with this power, there also comes great ethical responsibility.

Photographers have a significant impact on society, often influencing public opinion, shaping narratives, and highlighting crucial issues. The images they capture can shine a spotlight on social injustices, spark conversations, and bring about positive change. But these actions can also raise questions about the ethical considerations surrounding photography.

One of the most critical ethical concerns in photography is informed consent. When photographing people or private property, it is necessary to obtain consent from the individuals involved. Respecting their autonomy and privacy is crucial to avoid exploiting or violating their rights.

Another ethical issue is the selective representation of people, places, and events. Photographers have the power to manipulate reality by choosing which moments to capture and which to exclude. This ability can shape public perception and reinforce stereotypes. It is essential for photographers to be conscious of their biases and strive for a balanced and accurate representation of the subjects they photograph.

Photographers must also consider the impact their work can have on vulnerable communities. Exploitative or sensationalistic photography can perpetuate harmful narratives, reinforcing stereotypes and perpetuating inequalities. It is vital to approach such subjects with sensitivity and empathy, taking into account the potential consequences of their work.

In the digital age, the rapid spread of images through social media platforms raises additional ethical concerns. Images can be easily manipulated, misused, or taken out of context, leading to misinformation and further perpetuating biases. Photographers must be responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their work, ensuring that it is not misinterpreted or misused.

Furthermore, photographers should also reflect on their own intentions and motivations. Are they driven by the desire for recognition or personal gain, or are they genuinely committed to raising awareness and promoting positive change? Ethical photography requires self-reflection and an ongoing commitment to questioning and improving one’s practice.

In conclusion, photography is a powerful tool for storytelling, but it also comes with ethical responsibilities. It is essential for photographers to obtain informed consent, represent subjects responsibly, consider the impact on vulnerable communities, and critically reflect on their own intentions. By doing so, photographers can contribute to a more ethical and impactful use of photography in society.

In conclusion, photography plays a crucial role in society by serving as a powerful medium of visual storytelling. Through its ability to capture and convey emotions, experiences, and perspectives, photography has the power to challenge societal norms, evoke empathy, and inspire change. Whether it is documenting historical events, highlighting social injustices, or simply capturing the beauty of the world, photography has the unique ability to transcend language and connect people from all walks of life. As we continue to navigate an increasingly visual and interconnected world, the role of photography in society will only continue to grow, reminding us of the power of images to shape our understanding of the world and spark meaningful conversations.

Premium Content

The Power of Photography

Photographers use their cameras as tools of exploration, passports to inner sanctums, instruments for change. Their images are proof the photography matters-now more than ever.

Thirty-four years before the birth of this magazine, the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard sourly prophesied a banal fate for the newly popularized art of photography. “With the daguerreotype,” he observed, “everyone will be able to have their portrait taken—formerly it was only the prominent—and at the same time everything is being done to make us all look exactly the same, so we shall only need one portrait.”

The National Geographic Society did not set out to test Kierkegaard’s thesis, at least not right away. Its mission was exploration, and the gray pages of its official journal did not exactly constitute a visual orgy. Years would go by before National Geographic ’s explorers would begin using the camera as a tool to bring back what is now its chief source of fame: photographic stories that can alter perceptions and, at their best, change lives.

By wresting a precious particle of the world from time and space and holding it absolutely still, a great photograph can explode the totality of our world, such that we never see it quite the same again. After all, as Kierkegaard also wrote, “the truth is a snare: you cannot have it, without being caught.”

Today photography has become a global cacophony of freeze-frames. Millions of pictures are uploaded every minute. Correspondingly, everyone is a subject, and knows it—any day now we will be adding the unguarded moment to the endangered species list. It’s on this hyper-egalitarian, quasi-Orwellian, all-too-camera-ready “terra infirma” that National Geographic ’s photographers continue to stand out. Why they do so is only partly explained by the innately personal choices (which lens for which lighting for which moment) that help define a photographer’s style. Instead, the very best of their images remind us that a photograph has the power to do infinitely more than document. It can transport us to unseen worlds.

When I tell people that I work for this magazine, I see their eyes grow wide, and I know what will happen when I add, as I must: “Sorry, I’m just one of the writers.” A National Geographic photographer is the personification of worldliness, the witness to all earthly beauty, the occupant of everybody’s dream job. I’ve seen The Bridges of Madison County —I get it, I’m not bitter. But I have also frequently been thrown into the company of a National Geographic photographer at work, and what I have seen is everything to admire and nothing whatsoever to envy. If what propels them is ferocious determination to tell a story through transcendent images, what encumbers their quest is a daily litany of obstruction (excess baggage fees, inhospitable weather, a Greek chorus of “no”), interrupted now and then by disaster (broken bones, malaria, imprisonment). Away from home for many months at a time—missing birthdays, holidays, school plays—they can find themselves serving as unwelcome ambassadors in countries hostile to the West. Or sitting in a tree for a week. Or eating bugs for dinner. I might add that Einstein, who snarkily referred to photographers as lichtaffen, meaning “monkeys drawn to light,” did not live by 3 a.m. wake-up calls. Let’s not confuse nobility with glamour. What transfixes me, almost as much as their images, is my colleagues’ cheerful capacity for misery.

Apparently they wouldn’t have it any other way. The lodestone of the camera tugged at each of them from their disparate origins (a small town in Indiana or Azerbaijan, a polio isolation ward, the South African military), and over time their work would reflect differentiated passions: human conflict and vanishing cultures, big cats and tiny insects, the desert and the sea. What do the National Geographic photographers share? A hunger for the unknown, the courage to be ignorant, and the wisdom to recognize that, as one says, “the photograph is never taken—it is always given.”

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In the field I’ve seen some of my lens-toting compatriots sit for days, even weeks, with their subjects, just listening to them, learning what it is they have to teach the world, before at last lifting the camera to the eye. Our photographers have spent literally years immersed in the sequestered worlds of Sami reindeer herders, Japanese geisha, and New Guinea birds of paradise. The fruit of that commitment can be seen in their photographs. What’s not visible is their sense of responsibility toward those who dared to trust the stranger by opening the door to their quiet world. It’s a far riskier and time-consuming proposition to forgo the manipulated shot and instead view photography as a collaborative venture between two souls on either side of the lens.

Conscience is the other trait that binds these photographers. To experience the beauty of harp seals swimming in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is also to see the frailty of their habitat: scores of seal pups drowning due to the collapse of ice floes, a direct consequence of climate change. To witness the calamity of war in the gold-mining region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also to envision a glimmer of hope: Show the gold merchants in Switzerland what their profiteering has wrought, and maybe they’ll cease their purchases.

In the past 125 years, it turns out, Kierkegaard has been proved both wrong and right about photography. The images in National Geographic have revealed a world not of sameness but of wondrous diversity. But they have also, increasingly, documented societies and species and landscapes threatened by our urge for homogenization. The magazine’s latter-day explorers are often tasked with photographing places and creatures that a generation later may live only in these pages. How do you walk away from that? If my colleagues suffer a shared addiction, it’s to using the formidable reach and influence of this iconic magazine to help save the planet. Does that sound vainglorious? Ask the Swiss gold merchants. They saw Marcus Bleasdale’s images at a Geneva exhibit, and their Congolese gold purchases halted almost overnight.

Of course, every professional photographer hopes for The Epic Shot, the once-in-a-lifetime collision of opportunity and skill that gains a photograph instant entry into the pantheon alongside Joe Rosenthal’s Iwo Jima, Bob Jackson’s encounter with Jack Ruby gunning down Lee Harvey Oswald, and the Apollo 8 astronauts’ color depictions of planet Earth in its beaming entirety. And yet, game-changing photographs are not what National Geographic photographers do. The most iconic photograph ever to grace these pages is not of anyone or anything historic. Rather, it’s of Sharbat Gula, an Afghan girl of maybe 12 when photographer Steve McCurry encountered her in 1984 at a refugee camp in Pakistan. What her intense, sea-green eyes told the world from the cover of National Geographic ’s June 1985 issue a thousand diplomats and relief workers could not. The Afghan girl’s stare drilled into our collective subconscious and stopped a heedless Western world dead in its tracks. Here was the snare of truth. We knew her instantly, and we could no longer avoid caring.

McCurry shot his immortal portrait well before the proliferation of the Internet and the invention of the smartphone. In a world seemingly benumbed by a daily avalanche of images, could those eyes still cut through the clutter and tell us something urgent about ourselves and about the imperiled beauty of the world we inhabit? I think the question answers itself.

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Table of Contents

Collaboration, information literacy, writing process, photography.

Learn how to use photographs to communicate with greater clarity and persuasiveness. Review research and scholarship on photography as a medium or genre of communication .

What is Photography?

I t’s

• a semiotic system , a form of visual language , that writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . use to convey meaning
• a subject of study, an academic topic
• a profession.

Related Concepts: Concrete, Sensory Language ; Description ; Design

Why Does Photography Matter to Writers?

Photography is a powerful medium of communication , especially for

• narration , story telling
• description
• appeals to pathos and logos

Photography appeals to our senses, our sense of sight, which is a dominant mode of human perception and learning.

Writers, speakers, knowledge makers . . . use photographs in their texts to appeal to the readers, listeners, users’ senses–especially sight.

Pictures resonate with readers, listeners, users . . . at a primal level–at the level of our senses: when we see something, we can imagine it. When we see the picture of dessert, we can imagine how good it would taste. Our appetite suddenly springs into action!

Recommended Resources

• “Explore”. Google Arts & Culture .
• Thompson Writing Program. “Writing about Photography” . Duke University.

Related Articles:

Photographer's Guide to Selecting Photos for Texts

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Mind & Body Articles & More

How photography can help cultivate mindfulness and gratitude, a new program helps students and teachers notice the good things in life..

If you were to think about teaching both mindfulness and gratitude to students, photography might not be the first method that comes to mind. But mindfulness is, at its core, a state of open awareness and attention—and to feel gratitude , we first have to truly notice the good things in life.

Looked at that way, it’s easier to see how photography could be used as a tool in classrooms to promote mindfulness and gratitude—and the benefits they both have been shown to bring to young people. As French photojournalist Marc Riboud said, “Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”

The Center for Healthy Minds (CHM) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has long been studying the teaching of mindfulness in elementary school classrooms. Over the past few years—with a grant from The John Templeton Foundation in partnership with the Greater Good Science Center—they developed and tested a five-week mindful photography curriculum. Their project manual explains:

Advertisement X Keep Up with the GGSC Happiness Calendar Be a force for good this month One can say photography is a physical manifestation of mindfulness. It is about stopping/pausing, observing, framing, focusing, and capturing/receiving…Basically, photography is about a relationship to the present moment. Relating to the present moment with joy and gratitude is a choice we can make. Slowing down, we can access joy by shifting the focus of our awareness to what uplifts us.

CHM offered the mindful photography curriculum to fifth-grade teachers who were already involved in the mindfulness-based curricula study, which included both a ten-week training in the fall for them to establish their own mindfulness practice and an eight-week mindfulness curriculum for students in the spring. All six teachers who were given the chance to participate in the mindful photography training accepted, and five of them were able to continue with the project into a second year with new groups of students.

The first week focused on students using the mindfulness concept of pausing to notice what was around them in the present moment, and then appreciating the visual elements of what they noticed, such as colors, lines, shapes, textures, light, and shadows. In the second week, students learned to use their own eyes like cameras. They noticed what caught their attention and practiced nonjudgmental awareness, realizing that different people may see the same thing differently.

Then, in the third week, each student received a disposable camera and was specifically instructed to focus on photographing things that they felt grateful for and that brought them joy. In the fifth and final week, students reflected on the experience and shared their images. Each student received a small album to decorate and fill with their photos, thus creating a physical gratitude album that they could keep and look back on to remind them of their awareness and appreciation.

Based on participant feedback, teachers and students alike seemed to enjoy the curriculum and find it engaging and meaningful, especially the connections with both mindfulness and positive emotions. “This project re-emphasized the importance of slowing down and being present in the moment,” said one teacher. Others noted the beneficial effects of seeing beauty all around us and cultivating gratitude.

Meaningful Photos

A creative way to build happiness and meaning in life

Students expressed similar feelings. “Mindfulness is all about knowing your emotions and staying calm, and photography can really keep you calm and keep you focused,” said one. Another stated that mindful photography “helps you stay calm and happy and helps you notice what you are grateful for.” Or, as another put it, “We got to take pictures of people and stuff that we cared about.” (When CHM looked at the content of the fifth-graders’ photos, the two categories of subjects that appeared the most were peers and nature). One student’s response was simple but profound: “It shows me that the world is colorful.”

We often rush through our busy lives without truly noticing or appreciating all the beauty that surrounds us. As CHM found, mindful photography is a creative way to cultivate focus, deep seeing, and gratitude that both students and adults can carry with them into the rest of their lives.

In the words of Dorothea Lange, whose iconic photographs put a human face on the Great Depression: “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”

About the Author

Emily Campbell

Emily J. Campbell, Ph.D. , completed her doctorate in Human Development and Education at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education in December 2019. During her entire graduate program, she worked as a research associate on the education team at the Greater Good Science Center. Her work focuses on understanding and promoting students' moral and social-emotional development.

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Home — Essay Samples — Arts & Culture — Photography — The Importance and Future of Photography

The Importance and Future of Photography

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Cherished Images Fine Art Portrait Photography

NW Corner of 8th/Fulton, Downtown Boise

521 S. 8th Street, Boise Idaho 83702

The Importance of Photography- Student Interview and Essay of Photographer in Boise

Photography Shows Us Amazing Things

I want you to look around your environment. Whether this is at your house, office, or walking down the street you will come in contact with something called photography. Pictures are seen on your desk, the internet, billboards, and your favorite cereal box. Almost everywhere you go you have been impacted by a photograph. You have either been the person behind the camera, the one posing, or the one staring at an advertisement in a magazine. The world of photography has changed dramatically in the past couple years and continues to change. The cameras on our phones, and ease of uploading our photos to the internet has made the number of images in our world explode. Marvin Heiferman explains that millions of photographic images are seen throughout the world and the number rises every day. Photography impacts us to the point that it is an important part of our lives in some aspect even if it’s different from one person to the next. Photography's extensive depth of possibilities and the enjoyment and need of images is clearly amazing (12).  Each of us has done something with a picture even if you don’t see yourself as a photographer. This shows us that photography is important.

We as human beings are expected to overlook some details of something. None of us can possibly take in every little part of a fast moving sunset (Seger). Or take in every detail of a place you have never been before and maybe never will again. Sherlock Holmes may be the exception since he is known for seeing every little thing, but since we are not all Sherlock Holmes we need a different way to take in all the small details that make up our existence. We overlook the importance of photography in showing us these details. The camera is a recording machine which captures the best, worst, strange, and funny moments of our lives. Those moments make up our existence and the camera ties into that existence by recording the details of the moment. Each part of our life and the world is interesting and photography is an important piece that shows somebody else (and ourselves) the detailed moments of our life. While we concentrate on the overall view of our life the photograph we took will show us the small details we may have missed later. Photography is important because we can document something and have it forever. Photography lets us see something we may never have noticed otherwise. Photography is a way to express your ideas for others to see.

There is no way to deny that life flies by. One day it’s Tuesday then all of sudden the sun is rising again and it is Wednesday. The memories you made at one time in your life starts to fade as more days pass in-between till perhaps one day you can’t remember at all. This was an important topic that came up during an interview I had with Kelly Zimmerman from Cherished Images photography on 8 th St. and Fulton St. in downtown Boise. I parked my car, slung my pink, flowered bag onto my shoulder; gathered up my jitters as best I could and strolled towards the red brick building with the large sign ‘ The 8 th Street Studio’ above the door. Inside the photography studio there was plenty of space for laughter, huge smiles, and lots of fun. Photography equipment along with antique and modern props took up other parts of the space. I plunged into the soft, leather couch and took in the rest of my surroundings; especially the huge, picturesque windows in the front and the side of the building. The natural light bounced around the room landing on wooden crates, stools, and stacks of books. The light shone off of a beautiful photo of several Saint Bernard puppies with pink tongues hanging out. I brought my attention to Zimmerman who sat in the armchair to my right.

During the middle of the interview I asked the question, “what is your favorite subject to photograph and why?” After she answered the question I mentioned how much I love to take pictures of my niece and nephews. Kelly smiled and said you’re capturing a tiny essence of who they are. It’s important to capture that because it’s a moment you will never get back and now it is a memory locked in a picture. She continued, “The only way to hold on to those moments is to be able to look back on them. Not through your head since that will fail you no matter how much you think oh I will never forget this moment, it’s so awesome. You will. Photographs are the only way to make sure you don’t forget and help to remind you and help your memory along.” Since we will never get back moments in our life photography is an important way to gather the moment’s details into a picture we will have forever.

Photography is an amazing way to document every moment of our lives so we will have that memory forever. You can look back on the photograph and remember what was special during the time frame it was taken. Zimmerman states even when a loved one is gone from this earth the pictures you captured of them is the “proof of their existence” (Zimmerman). With photography you can document each stage in your life journey and the life journey of those important to you. Not only is photography a way to document events in your life, but also document the events of the world that turn into history. These photographs are important so we don’t forget what took place and for the future generation to have proof. To point out just how powerful photography is on documenting things Heiferman quotes Henry Luce, from Life magazine in the 1930s:

To see life, to see the world, to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things- machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon, to see man's work- his paintings, towers, and discoveries, to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come... to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed. (11-12)

I can always find something in a photograph that I missed while I took the picture. Sometimes it is someone in the background making a funny face which provides me with plenty of laughs. If the camera did not click right at that second no one would have seen that face which is worth seeing and showing to them when they are twenty. Other times it is the smiling faces which remind me about what that moment meant to them. Both of these examples tie back to the joy that we were experiencing in life. The joy was captured and as you look back on the picture you see the tiny details – a smile or silly face- of that joy that you would have missed if the camera was not there.

Expressions on the subjects’ faces are captured by a camera, but the photographer’s expression is also captured each time they push the shutter button. You have ideas and photography is a way to bring those ideas to life. Photography allows you to show others the unique perspective that is hidden inside your head. Photojournalist George Lang believes photography is “an excuse to say things you would edit out of a normal conversation, do things you would hold back from doing” (Lang 9). You have a voice and photography is a way to use it. When someone looks at your pictures those pictures speak for you. They tell that person the details about what you’re passionate about. God made every person unique and photography is important to express that uniqueness to yourself and others!

Photography is an important part of our lives. Photography can only be important though if we are in the moment and not just shooting the look of something. If we are just shooting the way something looks we are in danger of missing the real reason why we took the picture in the first place (Lang 11). Researcher Linda Henkel of Fairfield University argues in an article from the Huffington Post that the camera can get in the way for us to actually attend a moment. There are times that the camera becomes more important than the moment we are photographing. When that happens it may be best to put the camera down and take in the moment. But if the camera goes down the details of the moment will be lost forever. What is the solution? Blogger Sierra Black concludes “what we need isn’t fewer photos. It’s to become better photographers.” We realize photography’s power when we take the right type of pictures. These are the pictures that deep down connect the moment and the person. When we hold an actual print in our hands and look at it we realize amazing things about our existence.

No matter where you go photography plays into your life somehow. We don’t realize how big of an impact photography truly has on us until we see the details of our life hidden in a photograph. When you flip through your photo album and start looking for those details you suddenly realize you are truly blessed. A photograph keeps a moment frozen in time so we have it forever. Something like joy becomes clearer as we look deeper into the photograph. What you care about shouts from the photograph you took. Photography is important so we don’t look over the special details while we concentrate on the bigger picture of life. Those details make our lives interesting and we don’t want to miss them. Lauren from PhotographyConcentration.com, points out that “Photographers never stop shooting. Why would you? Life never stops being interesting.” Never stop capturing your life, because more adventures wait for you that need to be frozen in time.

Written By: Emily Holty (posted with permission)

Kathryn Bowen

English 101 Unit 2

6 March 2016

Works Cited

Black, Sierra.“Do Parents Today Take Too Many Photos of Their Kids?” Babble.com. Disney,    27 Dec.2012.Web.8 March 2016.

Carr, Susan.The Art and Business of Photography. New York: Allworth Press,2011.Print.

Heiferman, Marvin.Photography Changes Everything.New York: Aperture,2012.Print.

Lange,George,and Scott Mowbray.The Unforgettable Photograph.

NewYork:Workman,2013.print

Lim, Lauren.“54 reasons why you should be a photographer.”

Photogaphyconcentrate.com.N.p.2011.6 March 2016.

“Memory Loss Causes: Taking Pictures May Ruin What You Recall.” Huffington Post 10 Dec 2013. 8 March 2016.

Segers, Mary."9 Amazing Benefits of Photography." PictureCorrect.com.WordPress, n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.

Zimmerman, Kelly. Personal interview. 6 Feb. 2016.

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Advice for an Unforgettable Photo Essay

Six steps for turning your images into a memorable photo essay, from curating your best work to crafting a title.

A man sits alone on a chair on the side of the road. We see him from above, surrounded by grey cobblestones neatly placed, a broken plastic chair, and some pylons scattered along the curb. A street cat wanders out of the frame and away from the man. He appears lonely, the only person inhabiting the place in which he seems so comfortably seated. As the eye wanders throughout the frame, however, the viewer discovers more: a vast city cast beyond the street and behind the man’s chair. This image closes Sarah Pannell’s photo essay Sehir , a quiet study of urban life.

Possibilities, discovery, and stories: these are some of the most effective elements of a photo essay. Collections of images can help produce a narrative, evoke emotion, and guide the viewer through one or more perspectives. A well-executed photo essay doesn’t rely on a title or any prior knowledge of its creator; it narrates on its own, moving viewers through sensations, lessons, and reactions.

Famous photo essays like Country Doctor by W. Eugene Smith or Gordon Parks’ The Harlem Family are acclaimed for showing a glimpse into the lives of the sick and impoverished. Other well-made photo essays offer a new way to look at the everyday, such as Peter Funch’s much-reposted photo series 42nd and Vanderbilt , for which Funch photographed the same street corner for nine years. As shown by these photographers’ experiences with the medium, a collection of photos can enliven spaces and attitudes. Strong photo essays can give voice to marginalized individuals and shine a spotlight on previously overlooked experiences.

You don’t necessarily need to be a documentary photographer to create a powerful photo essay. Photo essays can showcase any topic, from nature photography to portraiture to wedding shots. We spoke to a few photographers to get their perspectives on what makes a good photo essay, and their tips for how any photographer can get started in this medium. Here are six steps to follow to create a photo essay that tells a memorable story.

Choose a specific topic or theme for your photo essay.

There are two types of photo essays: the narrative and the thematic. Narrative photo essays focus on a story you’re telling the viewer, while thematic photo essays speak to a specific subject.

The most natural method for choosing a topic or theme for your photo essay is to go with what you know. Photograph what you experience. Whether that includes people, objects, or the things you think about throughout the day, accessibility is key here. Common topics or concepts to start with are emotions (depicting sadness or happiness) or experiences (everyday life, city living).

For photographer Sharon Pannen , planning a photo essay is as simple as “picking out a subject you find interesting or you want to make a statement about.”

From Paper & Stories , a photo series by Sharon Pannen for Schön! Magazine.

Consider your photo subjects.

The subjects of your photographs, whether human or not, will fill the space of your photos and influence the mood or idea you’re trying to depict. The subject can determine whether or not your photos are considered interesting. “I always try to find someone that catches my eye. I especially like to see how the light falls on their face and how a certain aesthetic might add to their persona,” says photographer Victoria Wojtan .

While subjects and their interest factor are, well, subjective, when considering your subjects, you should ask yourself about your audience. Do other people want to see this? Is my subject representative of the larger idea my photo essay is trying to convey? Your projects can involve people you know or people you’ve only just met.

“Most projects I work on involve shooting portraits of strangers, so there’s always a tension in approaching someone for a portrait,” says photographer Taylor Dorrell . For Wojtan, that tension can help build trust with a subject and actually leads to more natural images “If there’s tension it’s usually because the person’s new to being photographed by someone for something that’s outside of a candid moment or selfie, and they need guidance for posing. This gives me the opportunity to make them feel more comfortable and let them be themselves. I tend to have a certain idea in mind, but try to allow for organic moments to happen.”

Aim for a variety of images.

Depending on your theme, there are a few types of photos you’ll want to use to anchor your essay. One or two lead photos should slowly introduce the viewer to your topic. These initial photos will function in a similar way to the introductory paragraph in a written essay or news article.

From there, you should consider further developing your narrative by introducing elements like portraiture, close ups, detail shots, and a carefully selected final photo to leave the viewer with the feeling you set out to produce in your photos. Consider your opening and closing images to be the most important elements of your photo essay, and choose them accordingly. You want your first images to hook the viewer, and you also want your final images to leave a lasting impression and perhaps offer a conclusion to the narrative you’ve developed.

Including different types of photos, shot at different ranges, angles, and perspectives, can help engage your viewer and add more texture to your series.

Says photographer Taylor Dorrell: “After I have a group of images, I tend to think about color, composition, the order the images were taken, the subject material, and relevance to the concept.”

From Taylor Dorrell’s photo essay White Fences : “White Fences is an ongoing photo series that explores the theme of suburban youth in the United States, specifically in the midwest suburb New Albany, Ohio.”

Put your emotions aside.

Self-doubt can easily come into play when working with your own photography. The adage that we are our own worst critics is often true. It can be difficult to objectively select your strongest images when creating a photo essay. This is why putting together photo essays is such a useful practice for developing your curatorial skills.

“The most important part for me is getting outside opinions. I don’t do that enough, and have a bias in selecting images that might not be the most powerful images or the most effective sequence of images,” says Dorrell. Your own perception of a photograph can cloud your ability to judge whether or not it adds to your photo essay. This is especially true when your essay deals with personal subjects. For example, a photo essay about your family may be hard to evaluate, as your own feelings about family members will impact how you take and view the photos. This is where getting feedback from peers can be invaluable to producing a strong series.

Collecting feedback while putting your photo essay together can help you determine the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps within the collection of photos you’ve produced. Ask your friends to tell you their favorites, why they like them, and what they think you’re going for in the work you’ve created. Their opinions can be your guide, not just your own emotions.

Edit your photo selection.

Beyond post-production, the series of photos you select as your essay will determine whether you’ve executed your theme or narrative effectively. Can the photos stand alone, without written words, and tell the story you set out to? Do they make sense together, in a logical sequence? The perfect photo essay will give your audience a full picture of the narrative, theme, or essence you’re looking to capture.

A good method to use to cull your images down is to remove as many as half of your images straight away to see if your narrative is still as strong with fewer photos. Or, perhaps, deciding on a small number you’d like to aim for (maybe just five to ten images) and using this as a method to narrow down to the images that tell your story best.

From Taylor Dorrell’s photo essay Over the Rhine , featured in Vice.

Give your photo essay a title, and add a concise written statement.

Finally, you’ll want to create a title and written statement for your photo essay. This will help position your work and can enable the viewer to fully understand your intention, or at least guide their perspective.

A solid written statement and title will be relevant to your topic, detail your primary objective, and introduce your point of view. It’s an opportunity to clarify your intentions to the viewer and ensure they walk away with a clear interpretation of your work. Depending on your photo essay, you may want to include several paragraphs of text, but even just one or two sentences of background can be enough to expand the viewer’s understanding of your work.

Consider if you’d like to add the written statement at the beginning of your essay to introduce it, or at the end as a conclusion. Either one can be impactful, and it depends how you’d like people to experience your work.

For his photo essay White Fences, excerpted above, Taylor Dorrell wrote only one sentence of introduction. But for his series Over the Rhine, Dorell included a longer written statement to accompany the work, which is “an ongoing photo series that seeks to explore the Cincinnati neighborhood of the same name and its surroundings. The series was started in response to the shooting of Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man, by officer Ray Tensing of the University of Cincinnati Police, which happened July 19th, 2015.” Dorell’s text goes on to offer more background on the project, setting up the viewer with all the information they need to understand the context of the photo essay.

Depending on the motivations behind your photo essay and what sort of subject it depicts, a longer text may be necessary—or just a few words might be enough.

Looking for a place to share your photo essays with the world? Take a look at our guide to creating a photography website for tips on showcasing your photos online.

Cover image by Taylor Dorrell, from his photo essay Hurricane Over Sugar .

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Pulling together: how Cambridge came to dominate the Boat Race – a photo essay

The race along the River Thames between England’s two greatest universities spans 195 years of rivalry and is now one of the world’s oldest and most famous amateur sporting events. Our photographer has been spending time with the Cambridge University Boat Club over the past few months as they prepare for 2024’s races

T he idea of a Boat Race between the two universities dates back to 1829, sparked into life by a conversation between Old Harrovian schoolfriends Charles Merivale, a student at the time at St John’s College Cambridge, and Charles Wordsworth who was at Christ Church Oxford. On 12 March that year, following a meeting of the newly formed Cambridge University Boat Club, a letter was sent to Oxford.

The University of Cambridge hereby challenge the University of Oxford to row a match at or near London each in an eight-oar boat during the Easter vacation.

From then, the Cambridge University Boat Club has existed to win just one race against just one opponent, something Cambridge has got very good at recently. Last year the Light Blues won every race: the open-weight men’s and women’s races, both reserve races, plus both lightweight races – six victories, no losses, an unprecedented clean sweep. Cambridge women’s open-weight boat, or blue boat, has won the last six Boat Races while the men’s equivalent have won five out of the last seven. In such an unpredictable race, where external factors can play a large part, this dominance is startling.

Thames trials

Rough water as the two women’s boats make their way along the River Thames near Putney Embankment during the Cambridge University Boat Race trials.

It’s a mid-December day by the River Thames. The sky and water merge together in a uniform battleship grey and the bitter north wind whips the tops off the waves. Outside a Putney boathouse two groups of tense-looking women dressed in duck-egg blue tops and black leggings with festive antlers in their hair are huddling together, perhaps for warmth, maybe for solidarity. The odd nervous bout of laughter breaks out. For some of them this is about to be their first experience of rowing on the Tideway, a baptism of fire on the famous stretch of London water where the Boat Race takes place. “Perfect conditions,” remarks Paddy Ryan, the head coach for Cambridge University women, for this is trial eights day, when friends in different boats duel for coveted spots in the top boat.

A couple of hours later these women along with their male equivalents will have pushed themselves to the absolute limit, so much so that several of the men are seen trying to throw up over the side of their boats at the finish under Chiswick Bridge. This may be brutal but it’s just the start. For these students the next few months are going to be incredibly tough, balancing academic work with training like a professional athlete. Through the harshest months of the year they will be focused on preparing for the end of March and a very simple goal: beating Oxford in the Boat Race.

Agony for one of the men’s boats after the finish of the race near Chiswick Bridge during the Cambridge University Boat Race trials.

Ely early mornings

Two of the women’s boats head out in the early morning for a training session on the Great Ouse.

Early winter mornings on the banks of the Great Ouse, well before the sun has risen, can be pretty bleak. In the pitch black a batch of light blue minivans drop off the men and women rowers together at the sleek Ely boathouse that was opened in 2016 at the cost of £4.9m – it’s here that all Cambridge’s on-water training takes place. Very soon a fleet of boats carrying all the teams takes to the water for a training session that may last a couple of hours. Then it’s a quick change, a lift to the train station and back to Cambridge for morning lectures.

The women’s squad head into the Ely boathouse after a 6am drop-off.

As a rower descends the stairs to the bays where the boats are stored, there is a clear indication of why it was built and why they are there. “This is where we prepare to win Boat Races,” a sign says. Since this boathouse was built, Cambridge have won 30 of the 37 races across all categories.

Top: The men’s squad stretch in the boathouse before an early morning training session and a member of the men’s blue boat descends the stairs into where the boats are kept. Below: One of the men’s teams set off for early morning training and the women’s blue boat rows past the women’s lightweight crew during a training session.

It’s a far cry from the old tin sheds with barely any heating and no showers. These current facilities are impressive, enabling the entire men’s and women’s squads to be there at the same time and get boats out.

Top: The men’s blue boat prepare to derig their boat at their Ely training site. Above: The women’s blue boat put their vessel back in the boathouse after a training session on the Great Ouse.

But it’s not just the boathouse that has contributed so much, it’s also the stretch of water they train on. In a year when floods have affected so many parts of the country it has really come into its own. Paddy Ryan, the chief women’s coach, explains: “Along this stretch the river is actually higher than the surrounding land. The water levels are carefully managed by dikes and pumps. As a result we haven’t lost a single session to flooding. That’s not the case for Oxford. I believe their boathouse has been flooded multiple times this year, unable to get to their boats. We’ve had multiple storms but we’ve been able to row through them all.”

The men’s third boat practises on the Great Ouse.

It’s a flat, unforgiving landscape, especially in midwinter, definitely not the prettiest stretch of water, but Cambridge don’t care. Ryan says: “It might be a little dull on the viewing perspective but we could row on for 27km before needing to turn round. We have a 5km stretch that is marked out every 250m. We are lucky to have it.”

The men’s blue boat practise their starts on the long straight on the Great Ouse.

The sweat box

Members of the men’s squad check on their technique with the use of a mirror at the Goldie boathouse.

The old-fashioned Goldie boathouse is right in the centre of Cambridge perched on the banks of the River Cam. Built in 1873, its delicate exterior belies what goes on inside. This is the boat club’s pain cave, where the rowers sweat buckets, pushing themselves over and over again; it’s a good job the floor is rubberised and easy to wipe clean.

A wreath to Charles Merivale, the founder of the Boat Race, and wood panelling in the upstairs room at the Goldie boathouse which commemorates Cambridge crews that have competed in the Boat Race from 1829.

(Top) Seb Benzecry, men’s president of the Cambridge University Boat Club, and (above) Martin Amethier, a member of the reserve Goldie crew, sweat during sessions on ergo machines.

Iris Powell of the women’s blue boat (above) performs pull-ups during a training session.

Above left: Hannah Murphy, the cox of the women’s blue boat, urges on four of her crew (left to right) Gemma King, Megan Lee, Jenna Armstrong and Clare Hole, as they undertake a long session on the ergo machines. Above right: Kenny Coplan, a member of the men’s blue boat crew, looks exhausted then writes in his times after his session on an ergo machine (below).

Brutal sessions on the various ergo machines, where thousands of metres are clocked and recorded, are a staple of the training regime set in place. If there is any slacking off the students just need to look up at one of the walls where a map of the Boat Race course hangs. The “S” shape of the Thames has been carefully coloured in the correct shade of blue and record timings for various key points on the course have been written in for both men and women. All but one record, and that one is shared, is held by Cambridge.

Paddy Ryan, the women’s chief coach, talks to the women’s blue boat during a training session on the River Great Ouse in February.

A key ingredient in any successful team is the coaching. Cambridge’s setup is stable and well established. Paddy Ryan is the chief women’s coach, a genial, tall Australian, he has been part of the women’s coaching team since 2013. The care and devotion to his squad is perfectly clear. “I have my notebook next to my bed so I can jot things down. I wake up in the middle of the night going: am I making the right decisions? I care about them as people and I need to manage them … We joke as coaches that we are teaching some of the smartest people on the planet how to pull on a stick.”

Rob Baker, the chief men’s coach, has Cambridge rowing in the blood. Born and bred in the city, his father was a university boatman for 25 years. He even married into the sport – his wife, Hayley, rowed for Cambridge as a lightweight – so it was no surprise that he became part of the coaching setup way back in 2001. He was the first full-time women’s coach in 2015 then moved to take over the men in 2018.

Rob Baker, the men’s chief coach, talks to his blue boat at their Ely training site.

Apart from an obvious role in the development of rowing skills, a key part of their job is making sure there is a balance for their student athletes. They understand they have to juggle training needs. “Every week we have a general plan,” says Baker, “but then someone might have an extra class or supervision they’ve got to do so we have to move around it. They are studying at one of the most competitive universities in the world with the highest standards so you’ve got to give them space to do that properly.” He goes on: “But when they get on the start line for their race, they’ll be just as competitive as if they were professionals.”

The presidents

Jenna Armstrong and Seb Benzecry discuss their plans in the Great Hall at Jesus College.

Every year one man and one woman are elected presidents to represent Cambridge University Boat Club. They are the captains and leaders, not only responsible for helping design the training programme in conjunction with the coaches but also making budgetary and tactical decisions along the way. This year both of them, Jenna Armstrong and Seb Benzecry, are from the same college, Jesus, which helps the communication between the two of them. They share ideas and knowledge, thoughts and worries. Their lives, for these intense few months, are a juggling act.

Armstrong is a 30-year-old from New Jersey, and doing a PhD in physiology. Once a very keen competitive junior skier she was forced to abandon her hopes of a career on the slopes after a number of serious knee injuries. She only started rowing in 2011 and only became aware of the Boat Race when she saw it on TV a couple of years later.

Jenna Armstrong, cycling down the Chimney, the grand entrance to Jesus College, to go to the other side of the city to carry out more of her PhD research at the department of physiology, development and neuroscience.

The research she carries out at the university labs could be turn out to be life-saving. “I study mitochondrial function in placentas from women from all over the world to learn how genetic and environmental factors during pregnancy can influence placental metabolism and impact the health of both mother and baby. I’m particularly interested in growth restriction which affects about 10% of babies worldwide. That can have lifelong implications for these babies and currently we don’t have any treatment for this.”

Benzecry, 27, is studying for a PhD in film and screen studies, and comes from a completely different rowing background. He grew up just a stone’s throw from the Boat Race course and went to a school on the banks of the Thames. This will be his 14th year of competitive rowing but his fourth and last Boat Race.

“ I remember one year my birthday fell on race day and we watched after my birthday party. Because we live fairly close to the course, I’ve always felt connected to the race.”

Seb Benzecry stands next to an Antony Gormley statue in the Quincentenary Library at Jesus College as he conducts research for his dissertation which forms part of his PhD in film and screen studies.

Talking about how hard it is to get the right balance between academic student life and rowing, Benzecry says: “I guess you have to accept there are many, many things you can’t do, you just don’t have time for during the season. You have to put the blinkers on.”

Armstrong says: “I have to be very prepared, very strategic and organised. I pack everything the night before, and then once I leave my room in the morning, I don’t go back. That allows me to go to training, go to the lab, go to training again. It’s surreal actually, to come to a place like Cambridge, have one of the best educations in the world on top of the most incredible rowing experiences in the world. We have a thing now in the boat, when we are doing something incredibly hard, I say this is my ideal Saturday, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I would rather be here than in bed or on a date. And I make everyone else say it with me too. I’d rather be nowhere else.”

Benzecry states: “When it’s really bad, when training is so hard, we say Oxford aren’t doing this, they could never do this. It’s an incredibly powerful thing to be thinking we work harder than them, our culture is better than them. They don’t want to go hard as we do – they might think they do but they don’t, they just don’t have it.”

Integration

The men’s and women’s blue boats during a training session on the River Great Ouse in February.

Until 1 August 2020, there were three separate university boat clubs in Cambridge: one for open-weight men, one for lightweight men, and one for open-weight and lightweight women. Since they merged to become one club, it has undoubtedly helped with everyone sharing the same resources and motivating and inspiring one another. No one is more important and everyone has a key part to play in the result. This year, Oxford have followed suit.

Baker says: “I definitely feel, for the athletes themselves, it makes a big difference. They all feel like they’re contributing to one common goal. Every cog in the wheel has to do its job but for sure it feels like one big team on a mission.”

Benzecry explains: “We’re seeing each other train, we’re all out on the water at the same time, we’re supporting each other throughout the season, building a sense of momentum for the whole club towards the races. Everyone’s just inspiring each other all the time and I think that’s been such a sort of cultural shift for Cambridge.”

The men’s blue boat pack their craft on to a trailer at their Ely training site ready for the trip down to London for the Boat Race.

Siobhan Cassidy, the chair of the Boat Race, knows from first-hand how the integration has helped. She rowed for the Light Blues in 1995 and had a key role in the transition. “We could see the advantages of working together, collaborating as a bigger team, the positive impact we felt that could have on performance. But not just the output, actually the whole experience for the young people taking part.”

Siobhan Cassidy, the chair of the Boat Race, pictured at the Thames Rowing Club at Putney Embankment.

This Saturday, if the weather holds, an estimated 250,000 people, the vast majority of whom have no allegiance to one shade of blue or the other, will pack the banks of the Thames to see these races. It’s one of the largest free events in Britain. Broadcast live on BBC One, the race is also beamed to 200 countries across the world.

The starting stone for the University Boat Race and pavement inscription: “The best leveller is the river we have in common” at Putney Embankment.

A map of the Boat Race course at the Goldie boathouse, with the Thames coloured in Cambridge blue and record timings written in for men and women showing almost total Cambridge dominance.

A sporting pinnacle being contested on a fast-flowing, unpredictable river by two teams of university students – it’s pretty bizarre. But maybe it’s that quirkiness that keeps the race, after almost two hundred years, still going strong. And even more bizarre to think that Cambridge, the current dominant force in the Boat Race, a sporting event that can’t shrug off its elitist stereotype, owes so much of that success to such egalitarian principles.

• The Guardian picture essay
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• University of Cambridge
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My Davidson | A Student Blog Photo Essay: English Scholars Go to AWP Conference

In February, Abbott Scholars in Davidson College’s English Department had the opportunity to attend the AWP (Association of Writers & Writer Programs) Conference in Kansas City. Check out their photos and reflections. 

About the Authors

Isabel smith '24: poetry & book fairs.

The Abbott Scholars Program allows students to spend a year crafting either a scholarly or creative thesis on a topic of their choice, working alongside a director, a reader, and the other scholars. You get an extended period of time to produce strong writing, opportunities to talk with visiting authors, and the ability to request funding for related research and travel.

Abbott Scholars

One travel opportunity is the chance to attend the Association of Writers & Writer Programs (AWP) conference, which seven of us went to in February of this year. This year, the conference was in Kansas City, and it lasted three days: Thursday to Saturday. Each of us individually picked what panels to go to each day. I am writing a poetry thesis, so the first talk I attended was “Sound and Color: Poets and Visual Artists in Exquisite Exchange.” The presentation was my favorite of all of them because of how illuminating and beautiful it was. Each poet had partnered with a visual artist, and they shared the process of working in tandem to create together, displaying photographs, blurbs of text exchanges, paintings, and finally, the finished poetry. Due to this experience, I decided to incorporate visual art into my own practice, and I have since begun working on finding available art as well as creating some myself. Additionally, my mother is a painter and my father is a poet, so I was very excited to share what I had learned with the both of them.

Throughout the few days, I attended panels on drafting tips and tricks (featuring Davidson Professors Parker and Shavers), sharing elegies, queer post-religious poetry, and trans poetics, all of which were a pleasure and incredibly helpful. Another important aspect of the conference was the bookfair. It was a labyrinth, spanning an entire floor of the huge conference center. Besides fun and silly booths — like one labeled “Poetic Help”  — the bookfair featured presses, literature reviews, and MFA programs, so I got the chance to talk to experts in the field of writing and publishing. They also tended to give out free books, excitingly, so I got quite the haul, all of which I can’t wait to read. At night, the seven of us — Tavie Kittredge, Michael Chapin, Nate Bagonza, Mason Davis, Taylor Dykes, Abby Morris, and myself — would explore the city, including events put on by AWPers. We went out to dinner together and attended the keynote, a poetry reading at a cat cafe, and a Rock & Roll-themed reading. It was amazing to bond with my peers and explore a new city. Thanks to the funding of the Abbott Scholars Program, I know much more about how to pursue a future in writing.

Michael Chapin ’24: Surrounded by Passionate Writers

The seven of us traveling together really solidified the bonds we’ve been building over the past semester and allowed us to spend time together outside of our thesis work, whether that was over Thai or ramen for dinner or just taking the time to explore the city. 

Getting to spend that time at AWP was incredibly special because, for me at least, it was the first time being surrounded by people deeply connected and committed to writing in all its forms. We attended events ranging from poetry readings at cat cafés to queer narrative presentations in speakeasy bars. 

My personal highlight of the conference was listening to Jericho Brown deliver the keynote speech in which he called on us to challenge the world as we know it — to challenge book bans and our perception of the world as impossible to change. Brown asked why we can’t imagine a better world while acknowledging that a better world is not created without a fight. A quote from the speech that has stuck with me in the weeks since was his question: “If the fight is against fascism, who do we need to be if we lose that fight?” And then, who do we need to be to win?

Trying a taste of Kansas City barbecue!

Exploring the streets of Kansas City.

Mason Davis '24: The Impact of AWP

The best part of the conference? Talking to authors, talking to MFA directors, talking to independent publishers … Being honest about what I wanted to know and not feeling awkward about lacking experience was so valuable. 

The best single moment I had was cornering Susan Choi and telling her how much I loved  Trust Exercise . She seemed so delighted that I loved the book, which warmed my heart. AWP carried an infectious feeling of immense creative potential that has stuck with me vividly.

Now that I’ve seen a piece of the literary world, I want to be a part of it. I loved talking about books and the book-world all day. It felt a bit like the Davidson College campus except that  everyone wants to do creative writing. That was a dream for me. I felt sad coming back to reality ... Sitting side-by-side with people who have just done a fantastic reading, or highly regarded editors, or publishers etc. etc. made me feel like my goals are imminently possible. There is so, so much writing out there and so many people making it work, somehow. If they can do it, so can I. 

I'd also been skeptical about MFA programs (how will I afford it? is it even necessary?), but meeting all those MFA students and directors has convinced me that I'd be doing myself a serious disservice by not applying to programs in the next 1-5 years, depending on where life takes me. Not to get ahead of myself.

I want to express my gratitude to the Abbott family (and personally Susan, who was so wonderful to share a dinner with) for the opportunity to, in a sense, role-play as a 'real' writer for an extended weekend and get to try on those shoes. I liked how they fit. I can only speak with certainty for myself, but I know I felt (re)invigorated in becoming a person of letters.

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• March 26, 2024
• My Davidson

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In Theatres Now: The AAP Crisis

• Story: Kumar Kunal and Amit Bhardwaj in New Delhi
• Concept: Neha Chandra

The Aam Aadmi Party is going through its worst crisis, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a corruption case. Three of his colleagues – Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh – are also behind bars. With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, will AAP – a part of the INDIA bloc – be able to turn its fortune around? 

Arvind Kejriwal: The Caged Chief

Arvind Kejriwal, the OG crusader against corruption in government, is behind bars in the Excise Policy case. His supporters feel that his anti-corruption drive ruffled enough feathers to land him in this sticky spot.   The Delhi chief minister is in the ED custody till April 1.   Since the inception of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2012, Kejriwal has been at the helm of party affairs. He’s also controlled the Delhi government for the last 10 years, taking his party to historical victories in the national capital for two consecutive terms. 

Kejriwal has faced several challenges, including a revolt by several of his trusted lieutenants, and losing close associates like Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and Sanjay Singh. Now, he’s facing one of the toughest battles of his life: Lok Sabha elections in 2024 coinciding with his arrest. But the wily politician that he is, he prepared his political strategy before going to jail. Several individuals have been given definitive roles so that his absence isn't felt massively.

Sunita Kejriwal: Sympathy Card

Sunita Kejriwal has been catapulted into a significant role within the Aam Aadmi Party. She’s using her unique appeal to win over the hearts of the public, primarily through video messages and regular press briefings. 

This appears to be a conscious step towards securing emotional support for the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. Her role, integral to the AAP’s communication strategy, is conversely driven with a resolute mandate: endorse and amplify the message that the impressive brand that is Kejriwal is still present, powerful, and unwavering. And she executes this with poise and effectiveness, while also retaining a familiar backdrop in her video messages, photos of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar.   

Interestingly, Sunita not only holds the Kejriwal surname, making her an inherent part of the brand, but also has an inherent charm. Her role is not restricted to simply reiterating the party's narrative or defending its policies but is more about shaping a nuanced perspective about the party and its leader. 

Bhagwant Mann: Commanding Officer

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has had an impressive journey since he took over the administrative reins of the state. A close confidant of Arvind Kejriwal, Mann learnt the nuances of the political arena from the Delhi CM. The duo is often seen together in various political visits and rallies. 

As the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mann commands a larger state than Delhi, giving him an expansive playground to navigate and manage resources astutely. His administrative acumen was honed during his tenure as the party's MP, as he gained insights into Delhi's political circuit for over three years.   

Mann’s ascension was as momentous as it was sudden and Kejriwal's arrest has catalysed his role expansion, propelling him to be the virtual No. 2 in the party. Mann’s oratory skills, which connect him to the masses, make this role even more significant. His credibility finds resonance not only in the AAP but also nationally.

Sandeep Pathak: Man of the Moment

Sandeep Pathak, an accomplished technocrat like Arvind Kejriwal, is a former professor at the esteemed IIT-Delhi who now helms the AAP’s organisational operations. But this is the first time he’s managing affairs without Kejriwal. 

Adept at understanding the language of statistics, Pathak is viewed as the lynchpin when it comes to the party's fortunes, particularly when the electoral number game is of paramount importance. With an in-depth understanding of statistics, he is expected to help steer the party to electoral success.   

Pathak faces a critical litmus test right now: he will have to tread through the Lok Sabha elections in the absence of Kejriwal. His political mettle will be evaluated, and his leadership skills put to a stern test. The slew of responsibilities that rest on Pathak's shoulders is indeed overwhelming. He will have to supervise broader strategies around Kejriwal's arrest, plan campaign manoeuvres in Delhi, Punjab and other key regions, and also serve as the central coordinator with the leaders of the INDIA bloc.

Atishi: Media Manager

Atishi has had a meteoric rise. A first-time MLA, she transitioned from a novice legislator to a crucial minister in the AAP’s upper echelons in a very short duration.

It’s not, however, just her dedication that has led to this rise. The ongoing crisis in the party, starting with the arrests of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, elevated her stature, shining a spotlight on her prudence and tactical acumen.   

Atishi is an astute and calculated speaker and has displayed an admirable knack for diplomacy, making her an indispensable asset to the party. A product of the prestigious Rhodes scholarship, Atishi is poised under pressure, as she not only helps run the Delhi government but also spearheads the attack against the BJP through various press conferences. 

Jasmine Shah & Saurabh Bharadwaj: The Backroom Boys

The crucial role of managing the day-to-day communication strategy, leading the narrative in the media, and curbing potential crises falls on two important figures: Jasmine Shah and Saurabh Bharadwaj. 

Bharadwaj, widely known as the GK boy, is a current Cabinet minister of the Delhi government. Shah, on the other hand, is a key behind-the-scenes player, instrumental in crafting public policy matters. This duo will now be leading the party's optic warfare, as AAP navigates through this period of uncertainty.   

Bharadwaj has been one of the most vocal and visible faces of AAP in Delhi. Jasmine Shah, conversely, who has always shied away from the limelight, is no less effective in his role. 

Shani Louk: Hamas victim's father defends award-winning photo of her body as 'symbol' of an era

• The father of a woman who Hamas killed has defended an award-winning image of her.
• The Associated Press image showed Shani Louk half-naked and face down in the back of a Hamas pickup truck.
• This article contains an image that may cause distress.

The father of a woman who was killed during Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel has defended the decision to present a prestigious journalism award to a freelancer who photographed her dead body.

The Associated Press freelancer Ali Mahmud won the Reynolds Journalism Institute's Team Picture Story of the Year for the image, which showed Shani Louk's lifeless body splayed in the back of a pickup truck and surrounded by Hamas militants.

Louk, a German tattoo artist, had been attending an outdoor "Festival for Peace" party near Kibbutz Urim when Hamas fighters targeted the area in a terrorist attack.

The decision to award the prize for Mahmud's photo received fierce backlash on social media and from some Jewish commentators.

The official X, formerly Twitter, profile for the State of Israel appeared to react to the news of the award by sharing several images of Louk alive and smiling, writing: "This is how we want Shani Louk to be remembered."

Israeli writer Hen Mazzig also took to X to hit out at the decision, saying that the image "dehumanizes" Louk.

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"The biggest photojournalism competition in the world decided to trample on the family's wishes in favor of giving a photo of Shani's mutilated body a prestigious award," he wrote.

"Photos showing violence and death can be newsworthy or important when they humanize the dead or galvanize the public. The 'winning' photo does neither; it only further dehumanizes Shani, retraumatizes her family and legitimizes Hamas's actions under the guise of journalistic neutrality," he added.

"This is one of the most important photos in the last 50 years"

But Louk's father, Nissim Louk, told Israeli news outlet Ynet that he was glad the photo won the award.

"It's good that the photo won the prize. This is one of the most important photos in the last 50 years. These are some of the photos that shape human memory," he said.

Nissim added that the image of his daughter and those of Noa Argamani being taken hostage by Hamas militants on a motorcycle were images that "symbolize this era."

"I think it's a good thing to use it to inform the future. If I start crying, what will come of it? This is history. In 100 years, they will look and know what happened here," he added. "I travel the world, and everyone knows who Shani is."

Hamas' October 7 attacks killed around 1,200 people and saw around 240 others were kidnaped and taken hostage in Gaza.

Israel responded to the attacks with relentless airstrikes and a ground invasion of the territory. More than 32,000 Palestinians have so far been killed, Al Jazeera reported.

Watch: Israeli police attack Palestinian mourners at journalist's funeral

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image processing —

Playboy image from 1972 gets ban from ieee computer journals, use of "lenna" image in computer image processing research stretches back to the 1970s..

Benj Edwards - Mar 29, 2024 9:16 pm UTC

On Wednesday, the IEEE Computer Society announced to members that, after April 1, it would no longer accept papers that include a frequently used image of a 1972 Playboy model named Lena Forsén. The so-called " Lenna image ," (Forsén added an extra "n" to her name in her Playboy appearance to aid pronunciation) has been used in image processing research since 1973 and has attracted criticism for making some women feel unwelcome in the field.

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In an email from the IEEE Computer Society sent to members on Wednesday, Technical & Conference Activities Vice President Terry Benzel wrote , "IEEE's diversity statement and supporting policies such as the IEEE Code of Ethics speak to IEEE's commitment to promoting an including and equitable culture that welcomes all. In alignment with this culture and with respect to the wishes of the subject of the image, Lena Forsén, IEEE will no longer accept submitted papers which include the 'Lena image.'"

An uncropped version of the 512×512-pixel test image originally appeared as the centerfold picture for the December 1972 issue of Playboy Magazine. Usage of the Lenna image in image processing began in June or July 1973 when an assistant professor named Alexander Sawchuck and a graduate student at the University of Southern California Signal and Image Processing Institute scanned a square portion of the centerfold image with a primitive drum scanner, omitting nudity present in the original image. They scanned it for a colleague's conference paper, and after that, others began to use the image as well.

The image's use spread in other papers throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s , and it caught Playboy's attention, but the company decided to overlook the copyright violations. In 1997, Playboy helped track down Forsén, who appeared at the 50th Annual Conference of the Society for Imaging Science in Technology, signing autographs for fans. "They must be so tired of me ... looking at the same picture for all these years!" she said at the time. VP of new media at Playboy Eileen Kent told Wired , "We decided we should exploit this, because it is a phenomenon."

The image, which features Forsén's face and bare shoulder as she wears a hat with a purple feather, was reportedly ideal for testing image processing systems in the early years of digital image technology due to its high contrast and varied detail. It is also a sexually suggestive photo of an attractive woman, and its use by men in the computer field has garnered criticism over the decades, especially from female scientists and engineers who felt that the image (especially related to its association with the Playboy brand) objectified women and created an academic climate where they did not feel entirely welcome.

Due to some of this criticism, which dates back to at least 1996 , the journal Nature banned the use of the Lena image in paper submissions in 2018.

The comp.compression Usenet newsgroup FAQ document claims that in 1988, a Swedish publication asked Forsén if she minded her image being used in computer science, and she was reportedly pleasantly amused. In a 2019 Wired article , Linda Kinstler wrote that Forsén did not harbor resentment about the image, but she regretted that she wasn't paid better for it originally. "I’m really proud of that picture," she told Kinstler at the time.

Since then, Forsén has apparently changed her mind. In 2019, Creatable and Code Like a Girl created an advertising documentary titled Losing Lena , which was part of a promotional campaign aimed at removing the Lena image from use in tech and the image processing field. In a press release for the campaign and film, Forsén is quoted as saying, "I retired from modelling a long time ago. It’s time I retired from tech, too. We can make a simple change today that creates a lasting change for tomorrow. Let’s commit to losing me."

It seems like that commitment is now being granted. The ban in IEEE publications, which have been historically important journals for computer imaging development, will likely further set a precedent toward removing the Lenna image from common use. In his email, the IEEE's Benzel recommended wider sensitivity about the issue, writing, "In order to raise awareness of and increase author compliance with this new policy, program committee members and reviewers should look for inclusion of this image, and if present, should ask authors to replace the Lena image with an alternative."

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Guest Essay

A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture

By Erik Hoel

Mr. Hoel is a neuroscientist and novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

Increasingly, mounds of synthetic A.I.-generated outputs drift across our feeds and our searches. The stakes go far beyond what’s on our screens. The entire culture is becoming affected by A.I.’s runoff, an insidious creep into our most important institutions.

Consider science. Right after the blockbuster release of GPT-4, the latest artificial intelligence model from OpenAI and one of the most advanced in existence, the language of scientific research began to mutate. Especially within the field of A.I. itself.

Adjectives associated with A.I.-generated text have increased in peer reviews of scientific papers about A.I.

Frequency of adjectives per one million words

Commendable

A study published this month examined scientists’ peer reviews — researchers’ official pronouncements on others’ work that form the bedrock of scientific progress — across a number of high-profile and prestigious scientific conferences studying A.I. At one such conference, those peer reviews used the word “meticulous” more than 34 times as often as reviews did the previous year. Use of “commendable” was around 10 times as frequent, and “intricate,” 11 times. Other major conferences showed similar patterns.

Such phrasings are, of course, some of the favorite buzzwords of modern large language models like ChatGPT. In other words, significant numbers of researchers at A.I. conferences were caught handing their peer review of others’ work over to A.I. — or, at minimum, writing them with lots of A.I. assistance. And the closer to the deadline the submitted reviews were received, the more A.I. usage was found in them.

If this makes you uncomfortable — especially given A.I.’s current unreliability — or if you think that maybe it shouldn’t be A.I.s reviewing science but the scientists themselves, those feelings highlight the paradox at the core of this technology: It’s unclear what the ethical line is between scam and regular usage. Some A.I.-generated scams are easy to identify, like the medical journal paper featuring a cartoon rat sporting enormous genitalia. Many others are more insidious, like the mislabeled and hallucinated regulatory pathway described in that same paper — a paper that was peer reviewed as well (perhaps, one might speculate, by another A.I.?).

What about when A.I. is used in one of its intended ways — to assist with writing? Recently, there was an uproar when it became obvious that simple searches of scientific databases returned phrases like “As an A.I. language model” in places where authors relying on A.I. had forgotten to cover their tracks. If the same authors had simply deleted those accidental watermarks, would their use of A.I. to write their papers have been fine?

What’s going on in science is a microcosm of a much bigger problem. Post on social media? Any viral post on X now almost certainly includes A.I.-generated replies, from summaries of the original post to reactions written in ChatGPT’s bland Wikipedia-voice, all to farm for follows. Instagram is filling up with A.I.-generated models, Spotify with A.I.-generated songs. Publish a book? Soon after, on Amazon there will often appear A.I.-generated “workbooks” for sale that supposedly accompany your book (which are incorrect in their content; I know because this happened to me). Top Google search results are now often A.I.-generated images or articles. Major media outlets like Sports Illustrated have been creating A.I.-generated articles attributed to equally fake author profiles. Marketers who sell search engine optimization methods openly brag about using A.I. to create thousands of spammed articles to steal traffic from competitors.

Then there is the growing use of generative A.I. to scale the creation of cheap synthetic videos for children on YouTube. Some example outputs are Lovecraftian horrors, like music videos about parrots in which the birds have eyes within eyes, beaks within beaks, morphing unfathomably while singing in an artificial voice, “The parrot in the tree says hello, hello!” The narratives make no sense, characters appear and disappear randomly, and basic facts like the names of shapes are wrong. After I identified a number of such suspicious channels on my newsletter, The Intrinsic Perspective, Wired found evidence of generative A.I. use in the production pipelines of some accounts with hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers.

As a neuroscientist, this worries me. Isn’t it possible that human culture contains within it cognitive micronutrients — things like cohesive sentences, narrations and character continuity — that developing brains need? Einstein supposedly said : “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” But what happens when a toddler is consuming mostly A.I.-generated dream-slop? We find ourselves in the midst of a vast developmental experiment.

There’s so much synthetic garbage on the internet now that A.I. companies and researchers are themselves worried, not about the health of the culture, but about what’s going to happen with their models. As A.I. capabilities ramped up in 2022, I wrote on the risk of culture’s becoming so inundated with A.I. creations that when future A.I.s are trained, the previous A.I. output will leak into the training set, leading to a future of copies of copies of copies, as content became ever more stereotyped and predictable. In 2023 researchers introduced a technical term for how this risk affected A.I. training: model collapse . In a way, we and these companies are in the same boat, paddling through the same sludge streaming into our cultural ocean.

With that unpleasant analogy in mind, it’s worth looking to what is arguably the clearest historical analogy for our current situation: the environmental movement and climate change. For just as companies and individuals were driven to pollute by the inexorable economics of it, so, too, is A.I.’s cultural pollution driven by a rational decision to fill the internet’s voracious appetite for content as cheaply as possible. While environmental problems are nowhere near solved, there has been undeniable progress that has kept our cities mostly free of smog and our lakes mostly free of sewage. How?

Before any specific policy solution was the acknowledgment that environmental pollution was a problem in need of outside legislation. Influential to this view was a perspective developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, a biologist and ecologist. Dr. Hardin emphasized that the problem of pollution was driven by people acting in their own interest, and that therefore “we are locked into a system of ‘fouling our own nest,’ so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free-enterprisers.” He summed up the problem as a “tragedy of the commons.” This framing was instrumental for the environmental movement, which would come to rely on government regulation to do what companies alone could or would not.

Once again we find ourselves enacting a tragedy of the commons: short-term economic self-interest encourages using cheap A.I. content to maximize clicks and views, which in turn pollutes our culture and even weakens our grasp on reality. And so far, major A.I. companies are refusing to pursue advanced ways to identify A.I.’s handiwork — which they could do by adding subtle statistical patterns hidden in word use or in the pixels of images.

A common justification for inaction is that human editors can always fiddle around with whatever patterns are implemented if they know enough. Yet many of the issues we’re experiencing are not caused by motivated and technically skilled malicious actors; they’re caused mostly by regular users’ not adhering to a line of ethical use so fine as to be nigh nonexistent. Most would be uninterested in advanced countermeasures to statistical patterns enforced into outputs that should, ideally, mark them as A.I.-generated.

That’s why the independent researchers were able to detect A.I. outputs in the peer review system with surprisingly high accuracy: They actually tried. Similarly, right now teachers across the nation have created home-brewed output-side detection methods , like adding in hidden requests for patterns of word use to essay prompts that appear only when copy-pasted.

In particular, A.I. companies appear opposed to any patterns baked into their output that can improve A.I.-detection efforts to reasonable levels, perhaps because they fear that enforcing such patterns might interfere with the model’s performance by constraining its outputs too much — although there is no current evidence this is a risk. Despite public pledges to develop more advanced watermarking, it’s increasingly clear that the companies are dragging their feet because it goes against the A.I. industry’s bottom line to have detectable products.

To deal with this corporate refusal to act we need the equivalent of a Clean Air Act: a Clean Internet Act. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to legislatively force advanced watermarking intrinsic to generated outputs, like patterns not easily removable. Just as the 20th century required extensive interventions to protect the shared environment, the 21st century is going to require extensive interventions to protect a different, but equally critical, common resource, one we haven’t noticed up until now since it was never under threat: our shared human culture.

Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, a novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

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