How will Google Glass change the world of photography?

If, like me, you’re obsessed with technology, you’ll no doubt have heard of Google Glass. For those of you who don’t know, Google Glass might well be the very future of mobile technology. If you’ve been to a concert of event recently, you’ll no doubt have seen a sea of phones and tablets raised aloft capturing every moment. What’s strange is that these people are more concerned with capturing the experience than actually enjoying it. They’re not dancing, they’re recording.

Google Glass aims to be the solution to a problem which many don’t realise exists. Essentially worn like a pair of glasses, Glass is a small glass screen which sits in the top right of the wearer’s vision. Rather than having to hold a physical device and aim it at what you’re watching, you simply tell the device to start recording and go about enjoying the experience without the interference of technology.

Is this the future of image capturing?

While this may be perfect for modern living where carrying and holding physical items is losing favour quickly, it proves a conundrum for the photographer. A recent documentary set in a corrupt nation posed an interesting point. The maker of the documentary was being persecuted and physically beaten by authorities who knew he was making a film. His concerned wife was begging him to stop as she feared for his life. The man responded that he needed the camera in order to make sense of the brutal and corrupt world he was living in. The physical separation of the camera lens provided just enough distance for him to detach himself the most horrific atrocities he was witnessing, to be able handle the emotional aspect of such horrors.

Similarly, war photographers are able to capture the atrocities of war by distancing themselves from the psychologically scarring events they are witnessing. The camera reminds them that there is a wider world beyond that country which needs to be made aware of these incidents. It gives them strength to face the realities in front of them. Without that physical reminder, how would it affect their mindsets? Would they still be able to cope without the camera?

Clearly, there are occasions when technology can be obtrusive to human experience yet there are also occasions when it is necessary to distance the photographer from the world in order to best analyse it. Google Glass may be the future, or it may flop spectacularly but as innovation continues it should be remembered that some problems don’t need fixing.