Abusing Application
by Liao Wen Hui
In recent years, Smartphone becomes more and more popular. Whether we travel on the MTR, take lectures in university, or shuttle in the streets, Smartphone is all rounded. Wherever we go, we can see people holding a Smartphone for playing games, snapping photos or just glancing at Facebook. Manufacturers continue to introduce a variety of applications to users. And the program for modifying photos is one of most prevalent applications.
People can modify photos in any places in anytime with those editing tools. Not only it can edit photos after shooting them immediately, but also it is easier than such software like Photoshop to use. It may be much user-friendly for people to add post effects to pictures. On the other hand, these applications may lead to aesthetic disaster for photography. Because of the established effects and automatic processing functions, people seldom give careful consideration, testing or practice. People only need to slightly adjust the color and brightness level if they want. They tend to rely on these applications when those come to easy obtain post-produced photos.
This artwork makes an irony to the phenomenon of overusing editing applications.
A series of photos were shot in a lively restaurant to reflect on a theme about pop culture. In the picture, chandeliers occupy a large number of magnitudes with luxury scene to mirror the prosperous downtown. But the numerous chandeliers seem to be exaggerated even kitschy. Besides, artist put a great emphasis on ceiling space and slanting line to construct a feeling of unrest or instability and make a contrast to its stable-square shape.
The work was modified by one of the most popular retouching-application. A strong contrast demonstrates compression plane which brings about the loss of three-dimensional and fewer colors achieve a unified effect. Artist added nine different effects to the same photo and expressed nine distinct views on the same picture. Actually, those patterns are almost the same.
Pictures would be lack of personal style if people excessively use application to modify them. And that action would result in a huge number of works of similar style. This case just like cosmetic culture in Korean, people narrow the definition of beauty. Many man-made beauties look similar may contribute the loss of diversification. The application is suppose to be convenience for users to edit pictures but generates photographic disaster in fact.
Although users may not want to create artwork through application, unneeded effect can lead to vulgar and distortion. Pictures are better keep original style sometimes. We should not retouch them just for retouching. We should not easily follow the trend and change habits when using technology product. We should not lose insight, be lazy from external factors and limit imagination when doing artistic creation. Modern technology should be a tool for artistic creation. It cannot control the direction of creating and limit the possibility of creative work.