We Stopped Photographing. We Started Performing.

Something shifted quietly, and most of us did not notice when it happened.

We used to make photographs and then decide what to do with them.

Now we make photographs for somewhere. For the feed, for the story, for the algorithm, for the engagement window on a Friday afternoon. The platform came first. The image followed. That is not photography. That is content production with a camera.

The damage is subtle but real. When the destination shapes the image, you start cropping your vision before you even raise the camera. You avoid the difficult frame because it will not perform. You chase the light that gets saved, not the light that is true. You make work that is immediately readable because ambiguity does not stop the scroll.

I am not above this. I have caught myself doing it.

The question worth asking is a simple one: if none of it could be posted, would you still go out and shoot? If the answer takes longer than a second, that is your answer.

Social media is a useful tool. But a tool should not be making the creative decisions.

That job still belongs to you.