The slow gaze: why I still read photography blogs in 2025
It might seem like an anachronism. In the era of the infinite scroll of Instagram and TikTok, where an image has a lifespan of 0.5 seconds before being discarded by the thumb, I remain faithful to classic photography blogs. Those with white backgrounds, long text, and photos that demand to be looked at on a big screen, without aggressive compression or trend filters.
For a tech profile like mine, accustomed to the dizzying speed of data and AI, these digital spaces are refuges of resistance. They are places where the "Slow Web" still exists.
The Algorithm vs. The Human Editor
The problem with social media is that the algorithm rewards immediate impact: saturated colors, exaggerated contrasts, smiling faces. This standardizes aesthetics. All landscapes end up looking like the same Windows wallpaper.
In contrast, the blogs I follow (like those of authors exploring documentary photography or minimalist landscaping) do not seek the quick like. They seek to tell a story. When a photographer dedicates 1,000 words to explain why they waited three hours in the rain in Iceland to capture a specific texture on a rock, they are teaching me about patience and context. Two qualities that, interestingly, are vital for any data analyst: without context, the data (the photo) is worthless.
Technique as a means, not an end
I am passionate about camera technology: sensors, dynamic range, aspherical lenses. It is pure engineering. But the blogs that inspire me are those that transcend "gadgetry." I like reading about how a street photographer uses a small, discreet camera to become invisible, in the same way that a good automation script should be invisible to the end user.
There is a clear parallel between composing a photo and writing clean code. In both cases, it is about eliminating noise. In a photo, you remove from the frame everything that does not contribute to the story. In code, you refactor to eliminate redundancies. Beauty, in both worlds, lies in the elegance of simplicity.
Recommendations to "cleanse" your gaze
Although I won't put a list of links here so as not to break the reading flow, I encourage you to search outside of social networks. Look for authors who publish "Photo Essays." Look for mountain photography that doesn't seek the epic peak, but the detail of lichen or the evening light. Look for urban photography that documents solitude or brutalist architecture.
Consuming this type of content helps me train my eye. And an eye well-trained to detect visual patterns in nature is surprisingly good at detecting anomalous patterns in a sales chart or an error log.
Conclusion: Reclaiming attention
Reading a photography blog requires 15 minutes of full attention. Looking at Instagram requires 15 seconds of fragmented attention. In a world fighting to steal our concentration, choosing where you put your eyes is a revolutionary act. I choose the slow gaze.