VISION

Digital cameras, PDAs, and camera phones are rapidly becoming ubiquitous. Small, portable and always on, these devices are creating a world in which the creation of photographic images is no longer restricted to the professional camera person or the enthusiastic amateur who captures keepsake moments for an album. Rather, digital images are becoming part of our everyday exchange of stories and critical dialog about the world. How will the paradigms of visual storymaking and sharing be transformed as pictures are produced and exchanged by an ever more diverse mobile population?

I believe the crux of this transformation lies in the relationship between the creator and the audience. As the ostensible audience becomes empowered with low cost, mobile tools and gains confidence both in the role of pictures in their lives and in their ability to capture and share their own images of the world that surrounds them, they will become active participants in visual story telling and making. While this transformation has been hinted at for a decade or more, only now is it becoming a reality as computational mobile devices, reliable networks, and intelligent software become more widely available.