Introduction
It is no doubt that technology has played a huge role in transforming the once unreachable, unrealizable dreams and transformed archaic practices for more professionally approved ones. Visual culture has not been left behind in the scamper for recognition, as aided by the supremacy of technology. Visual culture studies has been defined as the discipline or the sub-discipline involved with the information acquisition over visual culture.
Despite these much-appreciated efforts; technology has also enabled the uncontrollable increase in the number of visual media practitioners, with little or non-existent professional knowledge. As such, media production has reported some not-so-good outcomes in the current generation, as everyone is entitled to producing and publishing images through very accessible mobile and computerized technologies (Runge, 2020). The role of professional media production is the reinforcement of accountability and ethics in media coverage and image publications. Therefore, this report seeks to establish the role of non-professional media productions and their immediate and global effects.
The relevance of non-professional production of Images
In the present times, communication has evolved from the earlier generations’ professed practice of written communication and verbal communication to visual images as a means of information relay (Ferrucci, Taylor, & Alaimo, 2020). The development of technology has made communication better by introducing several avenues through which information can be relayed, one of them being image production. From the Showing seeing critiques, one thing that is clear is that visual images talk a lot more about natural and supernatural constructs, which brings theory to life through actionable images and video presentations (Mitchell, 2002).
The media industry is reported to employ several professionals, and sometimes unqualified and untrained individuals, with the right materials and access to specialized technological means (Chalfen, 2020). Whereas many of the image productions being done by the untrained but skillful hands of amateurs are in question, their validity and use in the media industry support the actions of amateurs even more. Image productions, such as any other form of media, are as informative and speak louder and better in the minds and memories of the intended audience. Videos, for instance, are the current means of marketing and information relay within a short time to a huge audience that would be verbal or written communication (Chalfen, 2020).
Role of Non-professional Images production on Culture
Culture has been defined by many scholars to mean many closely related things, for which defining a people’s way of life is one, principles by which people live and view life. Image production has for centuries been used to aid in propagating art and culture, through pictures, video, and music (Ferrucci, Taylor, & Alaimo, 2020). The source of a piece of art does not always matter much, save for the glamor and therapeutic feel affiliated with particular art. With the changing times, non-professional image production is useful in daily documenting the cultural trends that may be difficult for the scarce professionally trained image producers to do (Mitchell, 2002). From the interview with Vivian on Visual Culture studies, the interviewees’ response to the interviewer supports the notion that image production is a tool that crosses cultural boundaries and which do not necessarily require that much book knowledge (Mitchell, 2002). In this regard, non-professional image production works in aiding cultural progressiveness in a way that professionally trained producers are limited to.
Non-professional production and Global imagination
Globally, there are many gifted individuals without professional training but who tell the stories of the world and its evolutions in countless images, including those of emerging trends in fashion and design, through the works of technology (Runge, 2020).
Relevance or irrelevance of Non-professional productions
Non-professional production, whereas skipping the vital concerns over ethics and professional conduct in image production, is linked to better production outcomes, especially if equipped with better materials and the right technology. In my opinion, non-professional productions are as justified as a professional production, if the message and the communication behind the images are legitimate.
References
Chalfen, R. (2020). Methodological variation in participant visual media production. The Sage handbook of visual research methods, 241-253. Web.
Ferrucci, P., Taylor, R., & Alaimo, K. I. (2020). On the boundaries: Professional photojournalists navigating identity in an age of technological democratization. Digital Journalism, 8(3), 367-385. Web.
Runge, E. (2020). The travels of photographs within the global image market. How monopolization, interconnectedness, and differentiation shape the economics of photography. photographies, 13(3), 365-384. Web.
Mitchell, W.J.T. (2002) ‘Showing Seeing: A Critique of Visual Culture’, Journal of Visual Culture, 1(2): 165–81. Web.
