Photography’s Brief Philosophy II
Noting that Part One, in two words, was “Notational System,” I will attempt another brevity: “Locational System.”
Social media’s appetite for your location information is insatiable due largely to the fact that you are a consumer. Merchandising and marketing data are more precious if they are rich with comprehensive location information on consumers, so naturally, we are incentivized to share as much of the stuff as possible. Using online maps, the nifty functions of Facebook or Flickr reward us daily by showing that our photographs occupy increasing portions of the earth’s geography. Behold my mighty footprint! For a price, you may obtain a fancy camera that captures GPS information at the moment of exposure, writing it into the photographic file. But more significant, your smartphone likely does the same thing to all of your photos – and without any added gizmos or cost. And the number...