In recent years, technology has obviously shaken the photography world. In 1888, Kodak raised the industry with inventing the analogue camera, using a film roll (Robinson, 2017). However, many technology innovations disrupted the industry, like the use of disks or digital backs instead of a film roll, the digitalization of photos and cameras and the implementation of screens on cameras. Finally, the smartphone camera started to beat the digital cameras, which shifted our society to take on an “everyday photography lifestyle” (Harrison, 2004).
At first, an analysis of the digital disruption in photography on a business level will be described. Kodak, a firm which had great influence on the analogue- and digital photography trends, used to make profit by every “click” on the camera. They were forced to deal with the impact of the digital camera, Internet and ICT, which all led to a transformation in consumer processes. Unfortunately, the firm was not able to keep up with the technological discontinuity. According to the theory of Christensen (2013), the lessons that can be learned from the failure of Kodak are that management (1) should recognize threats and opportunities of digital disruptions timely, (2) must be capable to change, which involves a change in organizational culture and core strengths, (3) should guide all their employees in the same direction, in order to prevent change failure (Lucas & Goh, 2009).
Second, the impacts on a consumer level will be analyzed. Both on a professional and amateurish level, digital disruptions changed a lot in consuming behavior in the photography industry.
Firstly, professional photographers have to deal with a major increase in competition, due to a reduction of entry barriers. Furthermore, they are having a hard time in taking the quality of a photo camera seriously.
Secondly, photographic practices as amateurs has increased drastically, and even led to an “everyday photography lifestyle”. To indicate, Cakebread (2017) estimated that people would take 1.2 trillion digital photos in 2017. Besides the increased convenience of taking digital photos, social media platforms are likely to contribute to the increased number of digital photos taken as well.
Cakebread, C., (2017). People will take 1.2 trillion digital photos this year — thanks to smartphones. Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.nl/12-trillion-photos-to-be-taken-in-2017-thanks-to-smartphones-chart-2017-8?international=true&r=US
Christensen, C. M. (2013). The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business Review Press.
Harrison, B. (2004). Snap happy: Toward a sociology of “everyday” photography. Seeing is believing, 23-39.
Lucas Jr, H. C., & Goh, J. M. (2009). Disruptive technology: How Kodak missed the digital photography revolution. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(1), 46-55.
Robinson, L. (2017). History of Photography: Introduction of Kodak. Photo Focus. Retrieved from: https://photofocus.com/inspiration/history/history-of-photography-introduction-of-kodak/
Interesting read! However, isn’t the film roll trend coming back ? A lot of people are now going back to the trend of a “vintage” lifestyle due to unique style it provides. This can also be compared to the Vinyl industry, where people are now buying them again due to the “experience” they provide. I believe people are starting to like the film rolls again because it pushed you in thinking of things in a whole new way, you can’t jsut take thousand of picture and then select the ones you prefer. Instead, you really try to capture one good and pretty picture. Due to the film grain, the image you receive is also unique. However, it is true that it is still way more expansive and thus kodak should think of ways to reduce the prices.
Great to get insight on this topic! I really enjoyed how you analysed the photography industry from a business and consumer point of view. You mentioned it briefly, but I really believe that social media platforms are an incentive for modern day users to take photos. I believe it lowers the threshold for blogging, for which people used to need to create websites.
Hi Janne,
I found this article personally appealing as I love photography and it has been one of my hobbies for the last few years. The photography industry has developed at such a fast pace in the last 20 years, and most traditional companies have been struggling to keep up with these advancements. Not only did the quality of cameras got a lot better, but the development of cameras in smartphones created a whole new playing ground and competing firms that entered the market. For instance, the camera in the iPhone 11 is much better quality than a lot of the digital cameras in the market, making these products essentially obsolete. Why would anyone buy a phone and a camera when you can simply have these two bundled and all in one place for much cheaper?
You mentioned the “everyday photography lifestyle” which is something that rules our society and it has changed consumer habits and needs. Our generation and all the generations after us have become accustomed to having things immediately and as conveniently as possible, putting pressures on incumbent firms to innovate to match these changing consumer habits. However, I agree with Amandine comment above. As someone that has completely shifted from taking the majority of photos with my phone to owning a vintage point and shoot camera with film roll. There is an increasing number of people that are going back to film roll and are looking for this vintage photography style. It’s a lot like fashion trends, that die for a while but come back as something hip and cool in the future. With social media and the possibility to endlessly take photos, people are again searching for the experience of waiting for the perfect moment to take pictures. Capturing the essence of the moment and having these pictures as something you can touch and keep after being developed. However, film rolls are quite expensive since you need to buy the film and then get them developed, making it unappealing for people that only want the fast, lots of photos at virtually no cost. This presents firms an opportunity to tap into this new customer segment that is arising and focus on providing high quality experiences and offering alternatives at a lower price to attract more consumers.