Vocational School of Justice
180-YEAR JOURNEY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
On the 180th anniversary of the invention of photography, over 95 million pictures are shared alone on Instagram on a daily basis. Toros Mutlu, Lecturer, Department of Visual Communication Design, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Izmir University of Economics (IUE), stated, “Photos, which are very crucial in communication, allow people to display the personality they design for themselves.”
It has been 180 years since 1839 when the official date of the invention of photography was revealed to the Academy of Sciences. During this period, visuals started to take a bigger part of our lives. Lecturer Toros Mutlu held a workshop on digital photography and photographic processing techniques at Fuar Izmir. In his speech, Mutlu reported that camera is a device for recording visual images, which can be produced, reproduced and shared by masses. Mutlu said, “Our interest in photos has to do with the pleasure of seeing our own kind, namely, other people. Being shared by everyone, being an objective tool, makes it widespread. Not everyone can be a professional photographer but everyone can take photos.” Mutlu, who pointed that photos entered every aspect of our lives over the 180 years, and the reality was consolidated with images, said, “The photos verify the content of the news. When we see the pictures, we become sure of the accuracy of what is written. Even though our ID cards bear pictures that do no not look like us, yet we express ourselves with these ID cards. Today, everyone can take photos easily and share it with masses through social media. Over 95 million visual images are shared on Instagram alone on a daily basis. In fact, more photos enrich the language of photography even more. People display a character they create for themselves with what they share. They design the showcase of their jobs, professional identities with their posts. Sometimes, they are visual diaries.” Mutlu stated that Instagram was the third major step in photography after the invention of photography and the development of simple cameras that helped photography to be shared with masses. “Even though photography allowed us to register and store the things we saw initially, their temporality became more popular today. We now can share permanent visuals on our social media accounts as well as “timed” visuals, which can be deleted over time. There is an increased interest towards these. We create more interesting images in terms of content with the volatility of moments and memories,” said Mutlu.