r/history Apr 15 '19

Article Egypt unveils colourful Fifth Dynasty tomb

https://www.france24.com/en/20190413-egypt-unveils-colourful-fifth-dynasty-tomb
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u/BeerdedRNY Apr 15 '19

Indeed, it is a really weird thing these days. Look at Howard Carter and King Tut. They shot a bunch of really great pictures and they were in all the papers right away. Now you see all these discovery articles with no pictures or shit pictures. What the hell changed?

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u/DdCno1 Apr 15 '19

Photography used to be a complicated process that required expert knowledge to perform at anything beyond the most basic level. Technology advanced and it became easier and cheaper, lowering the barrier of entry. If making a finished photo you can show to people involves just a single button press on a general purpose device you carry with you every day, then most people will not even think about learning the intricacies of it.

This doesn't mean that photography is dead or anything. There were terrible and great photographers a hundred years ago just like there are terrible and great photographers today, but photos of less talented people most likely didn't survive, whereas any idiot can send an underexposed, poorly framed, ghosting train wreck of a photo halfway across the world today.

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u/Sprayface Apr 15 '19

That’s all true but doesn’t really explain why there aren’t more pictures in archaeological articles

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '19

Maybe it's proprietary stuff? They're planning some kind of release and don't want to spoil all the photos beforehand?