Design and Photography Highlights

We all wonder what to shoot next. Some have it down to a science and do a ton of research. Some just shoot and hope to get lucky and grab that perfect shot. Determining what the next trend will be is never easy but Soren Breiting at www.stockphotonews.com did a great writeup on the expected trends in conceptual images that we wanted to share with our Cutcaster community.

The below is a snippet of his findings:

As the financial crisis continues with negative implications for many consumers around the world, photographers can speculate over what that will mean for the demand and use of pictures.

Here are some possible trends to watch and shoot:

The growing complexity of the world and daily life of people might impose a trend to concentrate on the not so complicated sides of life. We know that the quest for amusement is often increased under times of depression. Visits to cinemas, restaurants, entertainment and other easy going activities might become more popular. So be prepared with fresh picture material of such situations.

Happy family life might also be a focus point, despite the effects of unemployment and the economic downturn that try to counteract it.

The ‘myself in focus’ trend might be further strengthened with focus on media success and the like as some of the concrete outcomes. The increased use of social media is an obvious indication.

Soren mentioned the potential to take portraits especially effective for the ‘face in social media’. – This is about how to stand out, and how to look with credibility.

With the flood of books on personal development and the self-help industry we have another important trend worth while to be aware of. The ever growing industry of alternative treatment – a rather depressing sign from the point of view of rationality and scientific justification – but a trend that you can profit from with pictures.  And herbs of all kinds seem to possess an over-natural potential to cure and help people.

The growing number and ratio of senior citizens has been in focus for a long time but as some countries have had to reduce their public spending on health-care, pensions and social services we might expect further demand on the positive as well as the negative sides of becoming older.

Finally Soren mentions the growing acceptance of the shift in psychology and therapy to the mantra of positive emotions and positive psychology. Surely this will be a field that will grow in demand for illustration and publications in the future.

The more you can combine some of these trends the more successful you might be on the marketplace as an image
provider or publisher.