Photography Entrepreneurship Manual - Brave New World of Photography - Preface

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Miles

A persuasive preface on the future of photography and the photographer’s freedom in the age of social media and advertising. It argues that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat reduce independent control, limit creative layout features, and rely on targeted ads that shape what people see and desire. Using concepts like “Soma,” the “hedonic treadmill,” and “filter bubbles,” it frames likes and uploads as modern compulsions while warning that dependence on third-party networks can erase access to one’s work.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages41

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Brave New World of Photography

SOMA

Hedonic Treadmill

How to Fight Back

PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANUAL BY ERIC KIM PREFACE . BRAVE NEW WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY Dear friend, I'm very afraid for the future of photography and humanity. I'm also very hopeful. Okay ﬁrst of all, some trends I'm seeing: Less creative freedom So, there are really any more independent photography bloggers. Rather, we are all on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, or some social media platform . The problem: we have less creative freedom . For example, on Instagram you cannot change the order of your images. New photos will always show up on top. You cannot add hyperlinks in your posts. On Facebook: when people see your photos in their stream, they will also see advertisements. You cannot block advertisements on your Facebook photos. I think photography blogs are the answer. Register on 1and1 .com and install [Wordpress.org. The](Wordpress.org. The) beneﬁt of using a wordpress photography blogging platform: you own your content. And you can control whether you put on advertisements or not. You can easily mass import and export content. You can mix visuals with text, or audio or video. Not only that, but realize- -Instagram is owned by Facebook, and Facebook/Instagram are advertising platforms. Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and all these other “free" companies are companies. Their purpose is to make money. And how do they make money? By delivering you content-tailored advertisements, based on your personal browsing behavior, what you "like", what you comment on, etc. So on one hand I love social media- - it connects us. People who are poor and cannot afford to pay for their own website is empowered. Yet, we are also trapped. To be honest, you are kind of at a slight disadvantage if you're not on Facebook or Instagram . Even scarier: the only real photo sharing networks in existence now is Facebook and Instagram (same company) . Which means, there is a monopoly of images on just one platform . Which means, Facebook can eventually manipulate the images we are being delivered through their “News feed algorithm”. For further reading, read the book “The ﬁlter bubble”--the basic concept that we are becoming tunnel-visioned in terms of what is being fed us in our news feeds. So liberals will only see pro-liberal news, and conservatives will only see pro-conservative news. It is a lot of navel-gazing, which prevents us from seeing a diversity of opinions, ideas, and thoughts. SOMA In Aldous Huxley's book “Brave New World”- -he envisioned a world where everyone was “happy”, because everyone took “Soma”- - imagine a mix between ecstasy and weed, with no downsides. People wouldn't care that the world was going to shit, because everyone “felt good”. Today's world, our photography soma is the likes we get on Facebook, Instagram, and the “snaps”we get on Snapchat, and messages on What's app, Facebook Messenger, or anything else in our social media streams. Above all, our soma is advertising. The only reason the capitalistic engine keeps running: we keep having desires to fulﬁll. We keep working at our shitty jobs, just so we can buy that new Range Rover, that new Hermes bag, or that new Giuseppe shoe. As photographers, many of us have good jobs. Yet, we are stuck in golden cubicle prisons. We think if we just bought that new Leica or digital camera, we would have more freedom, to travel, wander, be a nomad, and make photos. Sad reality: ain't no camera gonna buy your freedom . Hedonic Treadmill Hedonism: feeling good. Treadmill: something that keeps on going faster. We buy a new Leica, and it is exciting for a week. Then the effect wears off. We buy a Hasselblad, and it is exciting for a week. Then the effect wears off. We buy a Phase One, and the same happens. It happens with everything- -new phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, cars, pornography, movies, tv shows, YouTube shows, video games, etc. Social media too: you can never have “enough” followers. Once you have a tho

FAQs

为什么作者担心摄影的未来？

其中一个核心原因是摄影内容越来越受平台规则与商业利益约束。

作者如何用“SOMA”来解释今天的摄影体验？

作者把“点赞”和社交媒体互动类的刺激，类比为《美丽新世界》里的“Soma”。它让人“感觉很好”，从而降低对现实问题的关注。

作者提到的“hedonic treadmill”是什么意思？

指人不断追求更强刺激：买新设备或追求更多关注度带来短暂兴奋，但效果会很快消退。随后人会继续投入到下一轮欲望中。

作者建议如何“fight back”对抗这种困境？

作者认为没有真正外部敌人，真正的敌人是我们自身的欲望与不满足。通过反思自身问题，他鼓励摄影师重新夺回主动性与独立性。

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Miles