Images like these help bridge the gap between remote locations and a blogger’s audience.
2018 Photography Trends To Watch
Many people are turning to social media and other online sources as a means to get their names out there. Because we are living in a quick information age, the product we create online needs to be easily and quickly accessible for the large masses of diverse, online traffic. This means that online users are turning towards images and short videos to increase their followers and brand themselves. While this response to the need of instant gratification is a great idea, it’s important to remember that photography and videography as a hobby and a business also has changing trends to consider for those who want to have their art remain relevant. The following is a list of expected trends for photographers to consider partaking in the upcoming year.
Travel Photography
With the decline in economy, people are quickly learning to invest in memories instead of materials, this philosophy spills over into photography. According to a report completed by Expedia, most consumers research approximately 38 websites before deciding to spend on a vacation. This means that travel bloggers get quite a few hits in search engines, and they need visuals to help add value to their blog. Visual representation of travel spots is important for motivating travelers to one destination over another, and therefore the need for travel photography is ever increasing. Everyone wants to be the one to capture the perfect image that sells to a travel site or a popular blogger.
Photography is how travel bloggers get the traffic into their page because people always want to see something before they invest in it, and this practice is expected to be an increasing trend next year. A research report completed by TripBarometer states that approximately 69% of all travelers are looking to try something new, and they discover these new adventures through the photographs hosted on travel blogs. The visual aide next to short descriptions of wonderful places is exactly the kind of inspiration people need before they decide on traveling. If you are into photography, consider creating a travel page for your home town and photograph the sites that only locals know the beauty of. This will increase traffic onto your site. Or, better yet, take road trip weekends to photograph areas within a day’s drive around your home and diversify your photography or travel blog page. Either one of these ideas will help keep you within the current trends of your art form.
Action Photos (Smaller Cameras)
Photography is changing from larger cameras with extension lenses and additional accessories, to smaller and more compact. This is because smaller cameras allow more portability. GoPro would be the most popular brand of this style of camera. Usually coming with some sort of mounting option, photographers are using these to capture amazing motorcycle rides, bicycle journeys, skateboarding, scuba diving, or even journeys deep into the jungle like we see with Kalu Yala. These types of photographs and videos inspire viewers to live life to the fullest, and although the acronym YOLO has (thankfully) moved away from the mainstream, the ideology it left behind has not. If photography is meant to inspire, action photography is the epitome of inspiring people to try something new.
Mixed Media
Again, the accessibility of technology is allowing people to get creative. Many people are trying to find how to make something more of photography. With mixed media, portfolios are going to start coming with QR codes hidden within the photos, links to videos that act as supplemental art forms, or even just collaging different medias together in one. Some interesting new trends on the rise with mixed media in photography would be pop art, doodle art, and word art.
Pop art with photography is usually done with the artist adding comic-styled pop art graphic drawings as an overlay with photographs. This adds a mixture of that classic 1950s nostalgia with new age models, hitting a larger audience with broader interest. Doodle art, possibly on the rise because of the doodle option through social media apps such as Snapchat and Facebook, mixes humor with classic photography. These images usually show a portrait photo of a casual person, with silly doodles completed over the photos to add some comical value. Word art, possibly on the rise because of memes, has changed from inspirational and motivation posters, into humor and expressive pieces that connect with the younger audience. This mixed media trend is expected to continue in popularity as artists try test the limits of photography.
Virtuality vs. Reality
If you’ve been using any video game consoles recently, you may have noticed that there are now in-game photographic opportunities. These images are shared throughout all social medias as a way for gamers to either market themselves or show off their in-game achievements. Many gamers have also taken to photographing their characters in different settings and are using them as an artistic expression as well. Because the virtual realm is a representation of reality, it seems only normal that reality would eventually start expressing themselves through the virtual worlds as well.
On the other hand, many traditionalists will be creating photography as a social argument to fight against the virtual. This has created an increase in man vs. technology photography, all with underlying social discourse and not-so-subtle implications that technology is taking over our humanity. Dipping into the mixed media ideas here as well, the virtual versus real conversation is only expected to grow in it’s popularity as people continue to find their voices in this hot debate topic. These voices will continue to find new ways to express themselves and is expected to be all over the internet in the next year.
Another aspect of this trend is the use of imagery to combat the slew of “fake news” accusations running rampant lately. For example, Kalu Yala’s bloggers use imagery as a means to share the truth about Kalu Yala. Videos of week long hikes through the jungle, or a sloth clinging to the door of their Jeep, or even time lapse footage of new construction have helped overcome adversity and lay to rest unfounded rumors of a Kalu Yala lawsuit. There is no better way to lend credibility to a cause than through showing a very real, unedited look into daily life.
People Protagonist
Way before television ever created celebrity hype, people have found a way to obsess over the lives and events of other people. Online bloggers have maximized on this human trait and the availability of online traffic, using it to their advantage. Of course, the goal of most blogs is to get sponsors or advertisements on the side, and people have found that one of their best ways to be chosen by sponsors is to make their own individual character marketable. Photographing your daily life in a way that creates an interesting story is more intellectually stimulating than your average reality show, and photographers are beginning to completely grasp this.
This trend also inspires bloggers to create a life for themselves that is marketable to some sort of alternative sub group. For example, rockabilly is a subgroup that focuses on 50s style and nostalgia. Many rockabilly fashion divas photograph their makeup styles, hairstyles, new dresses or various other clothing they receive, and the music shows they go to. This gets them increased followers because readers trust their opinions on products and follow them so that they can also stay up on all the new rage. As success stories break out through the internet, this type of photography will become a more popular trend as people attempt to find new ways to reach that state of celebrity they crave.
For their part, Kalu Yala has capitalized on this trend by chronicling their journey to create an entirely sustainable village from the ground up through their Instagram feed. Followers are routinely treated to high quality images illustrating daily life in the jungle; including organic, local, farm-grown produce, native animals, and villagers as they go through their daily life attending yoga classes, swimming, and constructing the sustainable homes that are helping grow the village.