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Photography: a layman's pastime?

Technology has been creeping into the art scene for quite some time now, and in order to keep on trend and still have art enthusiasts preambulating through the galleries, the art scene has to move with it.

Instead of thinking of technology as something that is trying to replace traditional forms and media, we should think of technology as a means of creating artwork that could not have been created before. Now, our imagination has yet another outlet that has rarely been explored in comparison to art forms such as painting, sculpture, and drawing.

Having set the standard since 2005 for promoting artists and supporting the development of Dubai's arts scene, thejamjar has never been afraid to move with technology. Sole of the City - a photography competition run throughout May - is the latest effort by the studio to stay ahead of the pack.

Using your mobile phone, capture the soul of the city in a single photograph that represents urban Dubai to you. Then share it on Instagram with the hashtag #soleofthecity, where a judging panel will select the finalists to be exhibited at thejamjar from May 28 - June 6, with entries closing on May 17.

Instagram is not only a popular photography and social networking app with in excess of 33 million users worldwide - around 5 million Android users reportedly signed up for the app in the first few days of its Android release - but it's also a genuine threat to Facebook, who offered US$1 billion for the company recently.

The idea is that as you and your friends capture images and add filter effects so you all get to see the arty results, which is all very well, and "a beautiful way to share your world" as the Instagram rhetoric goes.

Does this mean that technology is in line to overtake skilled photography to make it a layman's art form? Pictures taken with your smartphone can evoke an emotional response in the same way that a film photo can. Filters can distinctly change the way the viewer interacts with the photo. The bleached tones of a filtered picture make it seem aged, as if the lens has caught something in the distant past rather than a few minutes earlier.

Many of the editing techniques available on photography apps were previously only available to those with certain kinds of film or advanced photo-editing technology. Even then, those with the equipment to create such distinct effects needed a keen eye for colour and shading in order to achieve the desired effects.

Instagram, and similar apps, has successfully removed the need for the photographer to have any knowledge of photographic arts allowing the most basic pictures become "artsy" when treated to a filter.

Perhaps in response to the layman's adoption of advanced photographic techniques, a new type of photography is being pioneered, that is just as deserving of attention and appreciation as the amazing photographs you've wandered past in galleries for years.

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