Popular music is getting worse, right? The reason why affects your photography too.
The Fall of Popular Music
I remember when I was young, people of my parents’ generation complained that a lot of pop music was worse than when they were young. All the same. The majority of our musical tastes are actually formed before we turn 30. So their musical tastes are definitely limited by that. I also accept that that is why I lack enthusiasm for much of what is produced today.
Although musical preferences are subjective, research has shown that new music lacks both dynamic and melodic range, as well as has less tonal variety. Dynamic range is the difference between the loudness and softness of a piece of music. A lot of modern music is remixed so everything is played loud. Those powerful symphonies once stood out over the softer rhythms and delicate melodies that floated in the background, while booming drums rang out in the foreground. Now, there is rarely a significant difference in their loudness.
The melodic range is also narrowed. It is the distance between the highest note and the lowest note in a melody. Melodies today are much simpler and are often limited to less than one octave.
The timbre of music is more difficult to explain. It is the quality of the music that sets it apart from other sounds. For example, a C chord played on a piano will sound very different from a chord played by a guitar or sung by a choir. Today’s popular music has a much more limited timbre than when I was a child.
As a result, songs today actually sound more similar than they did a few decades ago.
Sound committee
Why is that? It’s music created by a committee, and that committee is motivated by money. Record companies don’t want to make better popular music; They want to make as much profit as possible. They see that an artist with a particular style will sell well and will release more similar music to make more money. As a result, young people in particular will have their musical tastes affected by hot dog pop music that lacks range and personality. The result is bland, forgettable songs that dominate the pop landscape.
When you look back at any of the great names in popular music, regardless of genre, those musicians were less influenced by the record companies. They don’t aim to earn the highest possible revenue. Instead, their popularity and subsequent financial success emerged from their hard-earned creativity and not copying what was already popular.
They are both pioneers who set musical trends, rejecting pressure to be like everyone else. Of course, they have all been copied many times by those who followed them, and those copies have never achieved such greatness.
There has always been and will always be a huge difference between sausage machine music produced for money and mainstream success and those who pursue creativity, ignore opinions, and write great, unique songs. Thankfully, there are still great, original artists who create original work that is not looking for mainstream appeal but is wildly successful. However, they are the exception.
Committee Photography
How does this relate to photography? If you look at any of the great names in our arts, you will see that they did not pursue financial success as their primary goal. Instead, when financial success and good reputation occur, it is the result of their hard work and creativity. They intended to do well at what they did and money was a byproduct because they were different from the rest and dedicated to their work. I think that’s true of all successful businesses starting out.
These photographers went out and did their own thing, challenging the norms of the time. Yes, they learned their art from others, but they broke free from the limitations placed on them by the expectations of others. They often broke the constraints of their style and the choices they made when creating their images. Sometimes the technological choices were different, perhaps choosing a film format or lens that was different from everyone else’s.
Although we photographers are not controlled in the way that musicians are by the need for dividends, there is still a danger of us being trapped by our desire to be famous. People chase the instant gratification of meaningless social media likes by posting generic, pretty yet forgettable photos; muzak photography!
In photography, it’s easy to listen to other people’s opinions about your work and try to follow what they think and not what you feel. However, the story you tell with your photos, exposure settings, focus points, composition, and even the brand of camera you use are all your personal choices. If you do your own thing and resist peer pressure, you’re more likely to achieve your unique style than trying to please a group of Insta followers.
Beware of naysayers and impostors
Furthermore, you will find that people who comment negatively on your creative work will lack the understanding to understand what it is about. If you are one of those people who constantly criticize other people’s work, then chances are you haven’t learned to see what they are trying to express.
That behavior is due to the Dunning-Kruger effect. That is when a person’s self-awareness is inversely proportional to their actual abilities. You will find that most people who have the highest opinion of themselves will also be the loudest about their perceived abilities. There are countless quotes attributed to wise men throughout the ages that express the fact that the more we learn, the more we realize how little we know.
The flip side of that is imposter syndrome, where experienced people have a relatively high level of competence but feel their competence is low. Of course, there are impostors with imposter syndrome who pretend to have imposter syndrome to make themselves look better.
Assess your photography skills
Considering all that, is it possible to assess your level of competence? The answer is not to try but to accept that there will always be things you don’t know and things you aren’t even aware of yet. Surround yourself with good people of varying skill levels and respect them for where they are on their photography journey. The best way to improve your skills is to help others.
To prove my point, take any famous musical artist and listen to how they have evolved over time. There is a huge difference between the early and late songs of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, Carole King, Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchel, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Christine McVie, Kate Bush, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, and many others who have continued to advance in their careers. They have not succumbed to the pressure to repeat what has come before and have continued to follow their own unique paths. Furthermore, they have all been respected for their generosity in helping others in the industry.
This is also true of many big names in photography. Almost everyone from Ansel Adams to Patrick Zachmann made their mark in the field of photography and encouraged their fellow photographers along the way.
So the most important thing you can do, in the words of another famous song, is to follow your own path. But encourage others while you’re at it.
Do you find yourself trying to take photos that are similar to those taken by others? Or are you a photographer who likes to do your own thing? Do you help others? Or, are you spending your energy putting them down in an effort to make yourself look better? It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments section.
