Do you ever feel like there is nowhere left to go, no one left to meet, nothing left to learn? Sometimes, I feel like every path has already been trodden, every angle explored, every possibility realised. I think that maybe, just maybe, there is a finite limit to creativity, and we have reached that point. This may be why there hasn’t been a decent song recorded in the last ten years, why all the great films of modern times are simply rehashes of older classics, and why every image you see, you have seen somewhere before. We have possibly reached our limit as a species, and the only progress left to make is technological. Sadly, the rise in technology is probably to blame for what we lack in other areas. With our computers, our editing software and whatever else filling in our creative gaps, we no longer have the need to push ourselves further or to actually develop our own set of skills. Singers have autotune, we have Photoshop. Instead of bringing out the best in an image based on our own internal vision, we simply load it into our favourite software program and click our preferred preset. How, in any way, are we being creative? And it is only going to get worse. With the rise in technology progressing at such an alarming rate, it will not be long before photography is a purely automated process. Yes, you will need to be there, but that is where your input will end. You will simply press a button, the rest will be taken care of for you. Some would argue that we are already there. I feel sorry for Generation Z, those born from about 1990 onwards, for they have absolutely no inspiration of any note. Who are they supposed to follow, or be guided by, when they search for creative genius to aspire to? I had Lennon, they've got Taylor Swift. It is no wonder that we live in such a creatively barren time. Nobody needs to be creative anymore, and it certainly is not rewarded. Looks are far more preferable in this day and age, with so many people getting by on a modicum of ability because they hide behind a look which is “In-Vogue”. This is why it is all that people are interested in. You see it on the television, or in magazines. Looks are all anyone cares about anymore. Individuality has been replaced with a form of cloning, where people regurgitate quotes from years ago and claim that this defines them in some way. Nobody writes anything new, nobody says anything new. We, as a race, are falling apart. And I find that incredibly sad. People used to have a voice, now they simply have a profile.
The Last Light
