Dads knew Filters

This post, from Dads are the Original Hipsters, pays tribute to the crazy photo filters that once dominated catalogs from camera companies, and their modern age digital equivalents.  The blog dominates in snide comments to modern hipsters and their proclivities, from messenger bags to skinny jeans.  

From yesterday's posting on DatOH: "Your dad knew about photo filters before you did and he’s got the lens attachments to prove it. He was a master of world recalibration that used honed glass to send 35mm moments on drug trips. Each shutter pull shot 4x6 hallucinations and captured altered images through his collection of laced lenses.   So hipsters, next time you’re using instagr.am to show everyone on Facebook what your brunch looks like and you can’t decide on what filter makes it look best, remember this… If your dad’s photos hadn’t inspired your app, everyone would be able to see how shitty of a photographer you really are."

I loved the last sentence, because it does encapsulate some of what I feel has saturated photography these days.  Instagr.am and other apps have made this sort of manipulation easy, in an attempt to turn everyday, hum drum snapshots into larger, more artistic creations.  But it is, in this photographer's opinion, gimmicky and false.  While those effects (and others... from Lomo-esque shots to shortened depth of field images) have some place to help augment a good image, they do nothing to help a mediocre image (which are the majority of pictures taken by cell phones and posted online).  They end up looking cheap and contrived, a cry to be creative while taking the road of least artistic imagination and passion.  Remember: friends don't let friends use cheap, artificial filters.  Just don't do it.