#MemphisShared

Janie Peacock, 9th grader at Hutchison School, chimes in on what #MemphisShared means to her. Follow her @peacockjanie

Flashback to six years ago, when taking a picture required pulling out the two-inch deep camera. The film held a limited amount of room for photos, so after taking a few pictures you had to deliver the film to a store specially made for printing photos. Then you waited a few days for the order to come in. Taking a photo required a lot of effort, and therefore was not done frequently by those who weren’t dedicated photographers. Fast forward to the present day, when taking a picture requires pulling out the less-than-half-an-inch smartphone. After taking as many photos as you want, you have countless options as to how to share the photos. You could download the good ones onto your computer (also known as the downfall of the photo printing businesses), post them on various social media sites, or you could simply keep them on your smartphone to refer back to whenever you want. 

The #MemphisShared exhibition shows how greatly photography has evolved over the years; the social media sites that didn’t exist even a year ago have opened new doors for anyone with a smartphone. The beauty of photography today is that you don’t even have to be a photographer to capture the essence of any small details. At the exhibit, the wide variety of snaps all taken by Memphians proves how connected people are today, and it shows how simple it is to take a picture of something in the moment. You don’t have to plan for when you take out your camera; you don’t have to replace the film or wipe off the lense. Technology today provides anyone with the ability to capture something as it is happening.

I noticed how different each picture in the exhibit looked; so many effects can be layered onto photos now days that can make one picture look like a totally different one. The art of taking photos is so much simpler, yet there are so many different ways to use your photos.

If someone had told me a year ago that two of my photos would be in an exhibit at the Brooks Museum I definitely would not have believed them. So, take this opportunity to stop by and take a look at the work of everyday photographers.

And I would just like to give a shout out to the wonderful donuts served at the reception.