I know a lot of photographers. A lot. Hundreds. Maybe even more. From 1988 to the present, through my tenure at Kodak Professional to my current standing at Blurb, I’ve met more than I can count. Some individual festivals introduced me to upwards of a hundred plus. Real, working photographers who were part and parcel of the industry of photography. I’ve even interviewed at least a hundred. Long-form, hour-long interviews where we attempted to pierce the veil of what it means to view the world through a light tight box. Not dabblers. Committed fools, drunk on the lure of framing things up.
Several nights ago, I went to dinner with friends. Two gallery owners, both photographers, one master printer who is also a photographer and book designer, one legend in the travel/workshop world, one second career photographer with work I’d kill to have, and myself, a former photographer and fragrance model now masquerading as a book expert. This is a typical dinner in my world. I’m fortunate. This particular group is as good as it gets. Even after all this time around photography, I still have a lot to learn from folks like this.
I know these people. I actually know who they are, even the one I just met. I went to her house and she and I went book-by-book through her library realizing we had several books in common. We talked about travel and workshops, printing, telling stories and how things have changed in the world. All of these people have their foot on the gas. Not mashed to the floor, just cruising along at highway speed, doing what they do, which is build and tell stories by making the most original photographs they can.
Although all these people are connected to the online world, none are “influencers.”
Sitting at dinner I stared at the faces around the table and spent a minute or two thinking solely about each and every one. I knew where they were from, how they came to photography, their influences and mentors. We talk politics, religion, current events, history, and yes, photography. Real people, real conversations. And much of what I know about them is included on their websites for those who don’t know them to get a better feel.
When I returned home I checked my messages and noticed a note from someone that read “Influencers 🤮” This message was from someone working in the marketing department at a clothing brand known for having high-powered influencers. When I wrote back and asked for an explanation I received a two word reply. “The worst.” I took a quick look at their site and saw staring back at me some of the most famous influencers in the clothing/photography/outdoor world. People capable of incredible athletic feats, and some with the photographs to match. Some with millions of devotees. As I consumed their influencer style content, all of which was beautifully produced and perfectly cinematic, I realized I wasn’t paying attention to anything they were saying. It didn’t matter what they were saying because I could guess what they were saying without ever having to hear it from them. “I put this clothes/bike/camera through the paces and it never failed me.” All veiled in brand-supported crazy adventures out of reach of 99% of the population.
But I also realized something else. I didn’t know anything about who these people really are. There is NOTHING given away or admitted. No stance taken, other than what stance the brand has on one issue or another. What I was getting was the manicured facade of the modern influencer. No dust, no damage, no rogue comments about moon landings or Bigfoot sightings. No origins of COVID ideas or philosophy about the war in Ukraine or Gaza. Nothing not deemed perfect enough to make the cut. What was clearly evident was the dual-life reality. Actors on the stage of brand and influence. Want real, buy a dog.
“No reason to ever give a penny to anyone on Instagram ever again,” the CEO said. “The only people who remain are the addicts.” This was a line that slid into my ear less than a year ago. I didn’t reply, just let the comment soak in and wondered how accurate this statement was. IG, TikTok and the rest of the sludge pile are still front and center in most marketing I see. And these platforms still trouble most of the people I know in the world, people too embarrassed and addicted to admit the amount of time they spend consuming useless and irrelevant material. In private, they talk is of how awful they feel having to continue to play along, having to sleep in the bed of influence. In public, all is unicorns and rainbows and an exuberant positivity through clenched teeth.
I’m not sure what the actual value is anymore, but I can say for certain it makes no difference to me. I never connected with influencers and don’t imagine I ever will. Once you know real people, and their story, the short con by brand-surfing influencers holds zero meaning. Brands do this because they don’t know what else to do. Taking a creative stand strikes the fear of God in anyone who spends their life looking at analytics. Influencers, more than anything else, brought conformity to our world. Little boxes of trend and hipness. Everyone emulate.
Peter Matthiessen, one of my favorite authors, and one of the only people to win the National Book Award for both fiction and nonfiction was a Zen practitioner for over forty years. His 449-page Far Tortuga contains ONE simile. ONE. Nothing is like something else. The polar opposite of influencers. Matthiessen wrote several masterpieces. The Snow Leopard, Shadow Country, At Play in the Fields of the Lord. Work of substance, of uniqueness. Was he an influencer. God no. An insult to someone like this. The influencer skips stones across the pond while getting a tribal tattoo for their YouTube channel. Authentic people know they can skip stones but also know the pond is just fine the way it is and they don’t need to remind anyone of this fact.
We should never have to use the word “authentic,” but we seem to be using it all the time now because for the past fifteen years most of what has been highlighted around us has been the antithesis of authentic, real, or honest. Overly perfect, costume wearing, micro-influencers peddling packaged goods to the masses. As someone with an aversion to such things, I keep thinking “Hey, we gotta be getting to the end of this film, right?” Checking my watch, getting up to stretch my legs, and wondering if everyone else figured out the plot in the first ten minutes. But here we are. Still dressing up for opening night, each and every night. Oh, how predictable we have become.
PS: I know a YouTuber with millions of subscribers. I met him over a decade ago before the term “Influencer” was part of our vernacular. I met him and then saw him perform in front of the camera. I actually winced while watching him, but turned around and helped him get a job. A good job that really sent him on his way to becoming the person he is now. I’m happy for him because I know he’s still somewhat happy when he’s off camera. He’s burned out because his on screen persona is fake. He too got a tribal tattoo in some remote village because it played well with his audience. He takes stupid risks for no reason and is also involved as a filmmaker in several other successful channels based around phony pretenses. (Single woman traveling along to remote places.) These folks are a dime a dozen now. I remember when I first met him I thought “He’s got a chance to do something good,” but what he’s doing now is far from good unless you are a twelve to seventeen year old boy. He chose the novelty over the novel. This is who we are now, as a people, and I doubt it bodes well for our future.
Comments 21
Hats down because i really appreciate how normal and real conversations you manage to have with most of us (on-line friends ?) without falling into this GAFAM trap…
I live on the other side of the planet and our talks (writes) make me think different or just rethink. Not looking for any path to follow and sometimes i disagree but it remains like conversations. Thanks for blogging even if I understood it was not meant for “the addicts”
Author
Yes, a conversation. I mentioned this in a post before but I don’t do phony, and so many of the influencer types are so transparently phony.
Our future… do we even have one? What a depressing thought. But yes, we do. We’re in chaos and that isn’t going to stop anytime soon. But like anyone who has decided to tackle the mountain of stuff that seemed to accumulate of its own accord, the mess precedes the order. We are dealing with masses of clueless people and I say that with nothing but humility. So many just don’t have any idea there’s another way. They are just trying to get theirs, as they’ve been taught. But there are real people. I know some. You know some. And thank the gods for them. They make it worth it. I can’t help but think that there are more and more people waking up to their realness every day. They are catching a glimpse that there is more on offer than the homogenized beige we’ve been sold as “the way life is”. And man, once that glimpse has revealed what is really available, there’s no going back. Thanks as always for the real. Seriously, thank you. Somebody who is dancing the dance is going to see this and catch that glimpse themselves.
Author
I don’t think there is much we can do to make people want to learn, or to know. I’ve had two conversations with Trumpers in the past few days. One was normal, nice, agree to disagree. The other was sheer madness. Someone all in who didn’t know Roe v Wade had been overturned. Didn’t know anything about what Trump had done or said since 2016. When I asked what they thought about one Trump thing or another they just kept saying “I don’t know about that.” And then said “I was thinking I should start reading.” There is no way to “fight” this. And it doesn’t just happen on one side of anything.
I had some thoughts (of course) about this recently. I think resistance is mostly futile *except* if we don’t have the screen size to consume. My close-vision is terrible even with readers, so I can barely comfortably read my apple watch* or phone.
At home I work in front of a 29″ monitor, and watch movies/youtube on a 55″ Flatscreen.
It occurs to me that I’m happiest when I’m not at home. There are no influencers nagging for my attention. And I don’t own an iPad. For me, I guess cutting my screen time, even if accidentally, keeps me sane. No screens.
*I’m also going deaf, so the Applewatch tells me when the phone is going off, and also, much to my surprise, called an ambulance and provided important med info when I took a bad spill last week. I’ve always felt that it would be great to retire and not need it, but now I’m not so sure.
PS: Ellen… I’m going to a debate party tomorrow here with Democrats Abroad. Not because I think the debate is anything but a circus sideshow. I just want to spend a little time with people who aren’t insane.
Author
Jesus, you gotta take care. Most influencer content arrives via mobile device. Like hail in August.
I haven’t even bothered to consider “influencers” and the like, I have hated and begrudgingly used IG and Facebook just to remind the world that I’m still creating. Now I will post on IG and Facebook occasionally but my goal is to drive traffic to my website, and that’s it. If making it as a writer/photographer means I have to spend more time on social media, thanks but no.
Author
I gave up on all this ten years ago. People still ask me if I can survive without it. So crazy. Looking at my friends like mice in a maze.
The influencers are fading, but not on their own lack of merit. They’re being replaced by passive algorithms that log your screen time and how long you pause on things — mixed with whatever other info about you they’ve gleaned from your credit card purchases, list of known correspondents, zip code…
Authenticity, you know we’re in a mess when being authentic is a rare quality. We used to have phony people trying to wiggle thier fake personas in a job get saked after months on the job, now we have people trying to fool everyone about their lives getting major depression after not being able to be saked from their own life. They’re stuck there. There’s only one way out and it’s not pretty.
We now have AI influencers, when what you do can be replaced by AI, you know you’re not doing anything exceptional.
All that being said, Dan you influenced more people on a level that any of those influencers can only dream. On a deeper level worth exploring, with thought provoking real substance and not aimed towards your ego. Kudos!
Author
I think AI influencers is the perfect thing for our ailing society. We need to hit rock bottom and that is just the thing.
I write and publish my books, and try to stay authentic. But it does feel like the fake influencers and AI assisted social media personalities are the ones laughing their way to the bank. Just the same, I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I’m not.
Author
Sure. Same for drug cartels. Scorched Earth behind them.
I need friends like yours. There’s too many people lost in their phones. By the comments, though, I’m glad there’s a few still out there like us. Stay weird, folks.
Author
I can’t hang out with phone people any longer. It’s just a waste of time.
Danielsan – So I just watched MI: V-Rogue Nation…I then flipped on my computer and read your thoughts on truth, deception, mystery and the world-online-order. Your life experiences seem to parallel “Hunt” who, gets involved with a huge conspiracy then gets framed and forced to go rogue, relying on a precise set of skills as an agent to take the Syndicate down before their plan can be realized…YOU are the real-life “Ethan!” THIS MESSAGE WILL BE IRRELEVANT IN THE NEXT FIVE-SECONDS.
Author
I love MI. No matter how impossible. It’s perfect plane fodder. I’d take that job. Think of the hotel points.
It is a real blessing to have such a creative group to hang around. Imagining real people with real experiences and knowledge being shared. Getting to learn from the authentic real working creatives who don’t shy away from either the negative or the positive (earning money from creation, etc). I think our post-truth world is slowly slipping into no-truth world. People feel paralysed with unusual comfort knowing they are ‘protected’ by fakeness.
Author
Just being at a workshop would surprise a lot of people. When you look at someone and say “That’s not as good as what you had before.” Do this online and people go berserk. Real editing, real critique is so helpful but a lot of folks have never had it and feels strange to them.
Very articulate assessment of what is happening and it strikes me right so I am going to “share” my morning experience. I have very good friends who recently moved to Spain. They are very much Facebookers and so it is while holding my nose I have to look up what they have been up to (alot of good and generous stuff) on FB or Meta (whatever) on occasion so that when we connect on Zoom I know enough to talk with them about what is interesting and important in their lives. I logged out quickly today after looking at theirs and a few very dear friends posts – many I haven’t seen in several years even though we were very much the irl friends who saw each other several times a week in a down to earth yoga class, retreats, tea time…..hugs … laughs… things change, people disperse.
At times I feel as though I need to apologize for not continually posting on Instagram or keeping eyes on those who are. To have a fully formed social media life you MUST be ready to sit on your ass for hours tethered to a screen or at least report in each day. And you must have infinite apps to tell you when you have had too much screen time. How else would you know…. the depression maybe? Big moneyed tech tells little citizen Johnny via his sleep tracker that it’s time to go to bed. He wouldn’t want to f’ up his “sleep hygiene….” Today’s outsider is the one who is minus a sleep hygiene tracker and the aura ring. So all those opinions stated, when I did get on FB today to see what my friends in Spain have been up to I saw that someone named Dan Milnor had appeared on my “maybe someone I know” friend suggestion – HUH – I remembered this person from some photo Blurb thing many years ago when I made a book on Blurb after meeting (Eileen…?not gonna “google” it ) at Palm Springs Photo Festival maybe in 2008 and Eileen said “Just make a book!!!” So I did. It was all new and I am glad made that book. I looked at many of Milnor’s very cool book projects and others on the Blurb site at that time. It was exciting and new and real…not mere “content” because personal projects will remain life affirming. These days with paper sissors markers cameras etc. I create. It’s affirming and infinitely healthier than getting a numb ass while watching videos or scrolling through endless posts. Lately I’ve noticed there is a bro thing going on with podcasting influencers which makes me wonder how many mattresses one bro can test and how many energy drinks and supplements one bro can ingest before exploding …. they all appear to have grateful reverence for the incredible sponsors promising miracle gadgets and super potions to help them “live their best f’n life…” and dress right. Most podcasters also seem to share at least a little skepticism about how valuable all this information online is and there are many good ones. When I started writing this blah blah the song ShapeShifter by Laura Veirs came on ( yes I shazamed it… love THAT app) and it felt appropriate. Thank you Dan Milnor for your reflection on the spell of the influencer gam,e and the advice to buy a dog. And thank the heavens that there are still so may wonderful creatives out there spending time with each other IRL. Glad I looked up Dan Milnor and see he is alive and kicking without apology.
Author
Wow, that’s a great history. We are connected!! And yes, the reality is you must be ON all the time with these networks. To have any “success” moving forward, they will take more and more your mind and body. They will mine you, exhaust you and toss you aside. And people will line up and endure it. Watching people at the shrine in Kyoto was a statement about our species. And not a good one.