The Peculiar World of Web Photo Sharing

theodp writes "Can't get enough pictures of dogs' noses? Circular objects framed within squares? Newsweek reports on photo-sharing sites and picture blogs, where amateur shutterbugs looking to share their passions with the world happily blast their photos out to millions of people. Fotolog CEO Adam Seifer, who posts a picture of every meal he eats on Get In My Belly!, calls the Fotolog-Flickr-HeyPix-Smugmug phenomenon 'a million reality TV shows, only without the pain and humiliation.'" Update: 03/14 07:09 GMT by T : Reader onethumb points out an important aspect of such sites: "The new breed of photo-sharing services expose their APIs for geeks everywhere to enjoy. Both Flickr and Smugmug have growing APIs with thriving communities around them. Write your own photo-sharing application, sister web service, or software toy today!" (Here's a link to Flicker's API, and one to smugmug's.)

Comments

My experiences with Flickr

[metalhed77]

Flickr, if I may say, is one of the best designed web apps out there. It's quick to use, clean, and very featureful. Additionally it seems to have a semi-open API because I see tons of projects (like the squared circle collage) being made out stuff on there. And, most importantly, the interface makes ample use of DHTML and flash in a way that is genuinely useful. Interface elements that on most sites require loading a new page (say changing the title of an image you uploaded) or changing your navigation style are either javascripted or implemented very elegantly in flash. It feels quite close in many ways to a traditional app.

The groups on it are also good for meeting people and sharing tips / techniques. My one complaint about these groups is that people are *too* nice. Even in the ones where it is required that users include negative feedback, none ever is.

I phlog hard.

[Anonymous Coward]

Another photo-sharing site not referenced in the original article is http://www.phlog.net/ (as in PHoto webLOG or PHone webLOG).

I've been using that site for a few months now (refer http://www.phlog.net/user/OzDJ) and I'm hooked. Family and friends often ask me "why would you bother?" and I tell them that I look at it this way....

I reckon that the extraordinary events/times/places that we experience typically occupy less than 5% of our conscious lifetime. The other 95% is very mundane day-to-day stuff, yet it shapes who we are and - ultimately - how the world itself advances (or otherwise). Photos of the day-to-day make up some of the best historical photographic exhibitions I've ever been to.

And when I'm on my deathbed in (hopefully many) years to come, I anticipate that my loved ones will care more about "the little stories" than "pix of Grandad's xxth birthday" or "pix of Grandad standing in front of the Taj Mahal in 19xx". And I'm far more prepared to trust those stories to an online blogging service than my already-alzheimers-affected grey matter. :-)

Cheers

OzDJ - Sydney, NSW, AU
http://www.phlog.net/user/OzDJ
OzDJ@phlog.net

Less amateur works: photo.net

[jpatokal]

For more serious photography, check out photo.net, started by Philip Greenspun of ArsDigita fame. Still lots of random pictures to be found, but the quasi-moderation system of ratings does a pretty good job of sorting out the wheat from the chaff; check out the last three day's top-rated pictures for an example. The service is free to use, but people with popular pictures get more disk space -- or you can get it the old-fashioned way by paying.

Obligatory own gallery whoring: me! me! me!

And psst: since this is Slashdot, you'll want to know that there's some pretty damn good free pr0... err, I mean kinky photography out there too.

Cheers,
-j.

Re:The guy doesn't make his own food?

[SoLO]

And this question right here is the reason that these sites are popular. You get to view every little detail and compare it to what you do or what the "norm" is.

Re:It has transformed photography for many people.

[janbjurstrom]

Apparently, the main idea behind it is the slideshow - makes perfect transitions when every "squared circle" is identically cropped.

Other than that, I don't get the 'point' either.. just something to do, probably.