techno picture torrent and the cloud contact sheet

There is a terrifyng torrent of photographs  that newer technologies are now enabling .  Everywhere.   

Taking off from a the military /security/  Google Streetview   surveillance strategies,  the new uses of the technologies  have their own problems with people's right to privacy.  Though that right is increasingly being forsaken for the sake of  a little bit of fame the new framing might bring.   

A technology called the Autographer shoots 2000 photographs every day.  The Memeto shoots  2 every minute.  The photographs are shot automatically and uploaded into your personal cloud complete with geotags.  Your life is blogged without  any effort.  

And the technology is spreading to  even street corners where cameras look at you  and upload your image for wot they call 'street style' they do without permission, ofcourse.  Not that too many people really care. 

It’s no news at this point to say that technology is transforming photography in unpredictable ways. By now, in fact, it's hard enough just to try to keep track of every new variation on how this is happening. So here are two recent examples of technology as photographer.

The first is a site called Styleblaster. Basically, its creators have set up a camera on Bedford in Williamsburg that snaps images of everyone who walks by. This is postioned as a “live fashion blog, documenting the style of today.” You’re supposed to click on a top hat icon if you judge a specific pedestrian “stylin’.”

Perhaps we’re all getting used to the (potentially) surveiled life, or maybe it’s nothing new. But both of these instances follow Google Street View, security cameras, and drones into the category of system-as-photographer. 

This isn’t just prevalent, it’s influential. Increasingly, picture-taking people behave like systems: Capture tons of images, upload them all, expect that plenty will be seen no more, and quite possibly less, than once. The cloud is a contact sheet. 

http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/system-as-photographer/37008/

“As far as privacy goes, we count on people to be dressed well when they go out in public–especially on a brisk fall day,” he said. “Don’t expect the pictures to hang around, though. Fashion gets stale after a couple of days, so we don’t see a point in constructing an endless archive. This is really about the moment.”

http://betabeat.com/2012/10/designers-behind-williamsburg-spycam-styleblaster-insist-its-not-the-hipster-creepshots/

It’s difficult to ignore the themes of class and race that emerge among all of these sites, each of which relies on user submissions. Styleblaster, however, is theoretically setting itself up to document a place and a culture rather than rely on the subjective whims of observers to photograph the most outlandish and bizarre of Williamsburg's inhabitants.

But is it ethical?

It’s clear that none of the subjects of the photos are aware they’re being photographed. In essence, the Styleblaster camera works as a real-time webcam that the user can pause, ogle, and comment on via the voting system.  And while other websites put their victims at the mercy of individuals with cameras, Styleblaster is betting on its well-known vantage point to catch on quickly and send people parading by on purpose: “It will quickly become a destination for New York City peacocks to traipse by and show off what makes the neighborhood hop.”

Still, that dawning awareness on the part of Williamsburg’s oblivious residents can’t come fast enough. We’ve already been treated to things we wish we could unsee

http://www.dailydot.com/culture/styleblaster-hidden-camera-brooklyn-bedford-photos/