Design & Research 2 | For: Birgit Bachler
Hitting a Roadblock
I have been working on this topic for a long time now, almost a semester and a half. But after the first prototype session, I am starting to have a lot of self doubts. I really do not know what the right approach is here. I see so many opportunities and so many dead ends at the exact same time. It feels like maybe I jumped to a solution way too quickly, or maybe the core problem is not even what I identified before.
The reasons for these doubts are quite natural. They come from looking at social media, observing the people around me, and watching the rapid shifts in current technology and AI. I know there is no perfect solution and no magical balance between all these concepts. Right now, we have the AI based, fully polished stuff on one side. On the other side, the totally raw and unfiltered film camera still exists for making pure art. What I was visioning was a middle medium. But I am realizing that a transition from film to digital to AI based photography is not quite what I assumed it would be.
When I research creative freedom, the thing is that many advanced cameras already have options for using total film settings or creative modes. If those already exist, do people still actually need a new medium? And then what about modern phone cameras? How are they supposed to fit into this? Should my solution just be for the phone? Is there really a one size fits all answer, or should this project just focus on one specific user base, like only phone photographers or only dedicated camera users? Even if someone really just wants to practice and learn, there are already so many websites where you can try out photography and different lighting setups for free.
So in this post, I really just want to explain that I am having doubts. I am not sure if moving forward with this concept or research question is the appropriate direction to take anymore. I am going to try to research more and discuss it with my supervisors. There is a very real chance I might have to stop this journey right in the middle.
