Photography: The Positive And Negative Effects Of Photography

Photography has been around since the fifth century. Since then, this profession has advanced greatly throughout history. The word “photography” was created by a combination of Greek Root words, “photo”, meaning “light”, and “graphia”, meaning “writing” or “drawing”. We, as humans, have always been fascinated by the concept of being able to capture a moment within a picture and create a memory to keep and look back on. Photographs help us recall our past and can trigger different emotions from that memory. Photography has also changed the way many subjects are taught, for example, history is taught through visual representation, in particular, photos. There are both positive and negative effects to society when it comes to photography, for

Many times has society seen a celebrity’s privacy be intruded, with or without their permission, by paparazzi with their cameras. After a photo is taken it can then be edited not just for better but for worse as well. This leads to false advertisement that is then spread through social media as well television and even the radio. On even more serious matters photos can be used for blackmailing not just by any citizen, but specifically, terrorists, whose intentions are commonly destructive. There are also pedophiles, molesters, and identity thief’s who like to hide behind an image that is not their

It serves many purposes rather than just entertainment, it draws awareness to the issues of society and events around the world that we face on a daily basis. Photos can bring among both reality and truth instead of just being informed verbally of the world’s status. Photos have the power to record historic events and give the closest experience to what occurred. Although, one of the biggest impacts photography has had is the number of people it has provided employment opportunities for as editors, photo reporters, researchers, and photo journalists. Having discussed the general topic of photography from the beginning of its existence to how much it has advanced since then, shows the importance of a single photo and how much it contains. Without photography, our world would be drastically different than it is today. Even though this profession is mostly used for the good of the world, there is always a bad side of things, unfortunately photography does have its disadvantages, but only from the people who use it for the wrong purpose. In conclusion, photography is a powerful tool that will make an impact whether it is used for good or for