VIDEO: Contemplation – I think photography has changed polarity!

ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT:

I’ve been thinking a lot about being left handed and it got me thinking about cameras. I think photography has changed polarity!

While it is sometimes disputed, there is some evidence that the left and right halves of the brain have different characteristics. One is said to be more relevant to artistic creativity and the other more logical.

Cameras have changed, and I don’t mean film to digital. I mean that the actual hand that is predominantly used for photography has changed.

In the days of most film cameras the left hand was used. I appreciate the smaller compact cameras did not, but then they only ever seemed to produced snap shots and they more often than not looked it!

With film SLR’s we controlled with the left hand the aperture, focus and zoom, the three main artistic changes that we make as photographers when the eye is to the viewfinder.

Today we use automated focus, aperture is controlled by the right hand with some dial „thingie“ and even the shutter speed and exposure compensation is now set with the right hand.

If just using our left hand more, engages our right brain more could this actually have an engaging and „training“ effect on the „artistic eye“?

And if using our right hand more, engages our left brain more could this explain the need for photoshop and the great popularity in the latest logical analysis of technical specs of photo kit?

Certainly there is a resurgence in older film cameras, Leica still has a following and I as a left hander feel better with an old AIS lens on my camera than the automated digital…

But I don’t know if this is right and I don’t have empirical evidence, but it is possible.

Leave your comments, thoughts and experience below….