Every so often, the question resurfaces: Is photography dead?
Usually prompted by the rise of smartphones, social media, or the sheer volume of images we now produce and consume daily.
On the surface, it can feel as though photography has become ubiquitous to the point of exhaustion. Images are made constantly, shared instantly, and forgotten just as quickly. The act of photographing is no longer rare, nor is access to the tools that make it possible.
But ubiquity is not the same as meaning.
Photography, for me, has never been defined by technology alone. It is defined by attention. By intention. By the relationship between the maker, the subject, and the moment being witnessed. Those things cannot be automated, regardless of how advanced the tools become.
What has changed is the pace. Speed has replaced patience. Quantity often outweighs discernment. The effort now lies not in making images, but in slowing down enough to really see them — to decide which ones matter, and why.
In that sense, photography isn’t dead at all. It is simply asking to be practised differently.
Meaningful photography still requires presence. It asks the photographer to notice what others might overlook, to wait, to respond, to care. It asks for responsibility — to the subject, to the image, and to the story being told. These qualities cannot be replicated by volume or convenience.
These photographs were made while sitting with my grandfather, Fred, as he handled and spoke through his family albums. He is no longer here, but the photographs hold his presence — not as nostalgia, but as evidence of what photography can carry.
If anything, the saturation of images has clarified what truly endures. Photographs that hold weight — emotional, historical, personal — rise quietly above the noise. They are returned to, lived with, and passed on. They are not consumed; they are kept.
So no, I don’t believe photography is dead.
I believe it is evolving.
And perhaps, in a world of speed and excess, it matters more than ever to practise it with intention, integrity, and care.