Here’s an article I almost completely disagree with.
Not that I don’t find conspicuous consumption a little gross (although I definitely indulge in it too, so you know, there’s that). It’s more the argument that because something is easy, it’s not real art. I can’t get behind that. Especially when it pulls out something like “they don’t even have to learn Photoshop!”, when five, ten years ago those same people would probably say that Photoshop wasn’t real art, because it’s too easy.
It’s also the assumption that “art” is the only reason to take photos. Giving people the option to add a filter and make the snaps they were going to take anyway more aesthetically appealing isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t make fake art, it makes prettier snapshots.
This sort of “your art is bad and you should feel bad” posturing always comes across as overly defensive to me, like a frightened pushback from someone worried that “the cool kids” are taking over their territory. Yes, aesthetics get co-opted. It happens. If that means you get bored of an aesthetic you used to love, find a new one. That’s what artists do. They don’t just complain that no one else appreciates age-degraded film as deeply as they do.
The Consumption 