Response to Photo Slideshow by Ben Adams

 I have to say, I was rather surprised by how rich the history of photo composition and manipulation is. I've grown up in a world where people just seem to take pictures for the sake of bragging, and the results aren't that well executed. Of course there's Photoshop, but there is also the fact that professional photography takes tons of time, that makes pictures taken for art seem much more impressive. I'd pretty much call professional photography just as complex as filming a scene for a movie, if not even more difficult. I was also intrigued by the fact that photo manipulation had been around since WWII, and I have to say it made sense with the whole Mussolini thing. Even then it was still a reflection of something troubling. Photo manipulation can create art (like the weird warehouse and superstore things), but it can be used for more selfish reasons, and I think it is reflective of the vanities of today's technology obsessed world. Everybody wants something to look better than another thing, even if it is fine the way it is. In other words we use photography for ego and not art.