What Has Digital Done to History?

I love my digital camera. I have the freedom to snap away as much as I want to and then delete anything I don't like. I take hundreds of pictures every month, but only print about 30. To save hard drive space, I delete "bad" or "so-so" photos. It's liberating actually.

My daughter's daily life is documented in photos-tons of them. When I look back at my childhood photos, there are a lot of pictures, but I know I have easily surpassed that number with the photos I've taken of my daughter in less than a year. You'd think that would make her photographic history more accurate, right? Is it though?

I doubt that I can even begin to answer these questions, but the change in times and technology does make you wonder: What has digital done to our history?

• Volume. Does the immense increase in volume of photographs decrease their value and importance? Often the less there is of something, the more valuable it becomes and likewise, the more there is of something, the less valuable it seems to be. Does this mean my daughter will be less excited about looking at her childhood photos if there are tons and tons of them? Does it make them less special?
  
  
  

• Quality. Can we expect the quality of "save-able" photographs to be better and more photographically "correct"? Naturally, the more photos you take, the more likely you'll get a great shot. Photographers have been preaching that lesson for years. So, now that we all have the ability to snap away without cost concerns, I suppose we should expect the quality of our photographs to improve.
  
  
  

• Accuracy. Without the worry of the cost of prints, film and all those other 35mm expenses to slow me down, I take photos of everything-seriously. Perhaps because of this more carefree way of taking photos, instead of just at special occasions, we'll see more accuracy and "real-ness" of everyday life in our photographs. I'm more likely to capture the regular things as well as the more special moments now.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Tactility. Instead of flipping through photo albums, will our children look to computer screens for a walk down memory lane? Already, my 11-month-old daughter loves to watch slideshows of photographs on my computer. And with digital scrapbooking eliminating the need for prints altogether, will we lose the hands-on experience of looking at pictures?

As with any technological development, I believe digital photography will change the way we take, view and approach our photographic memories. Will it be for the better or worse? My guess is, it'll just be different, and someday our kids will be laughing at us for ever printing pictures, just like we cringe when our photographs have been yellowed in magnetic albums.

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