--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone concedes that photography is now…" description: "\"Everyone concedes that photography is now a medium of exchange as much as a mode of documentation… photographing has become the visual equivalent of ce..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg" --- # Everyone concedes that photography is now a medium of… ![“Everyone concedes that photography is now a medium of exchange as much as a mode of documentation… photographing has become the visual equivalent of cellphone chatter.” quote by Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg) > “Everyone concedes that photography is now a medium of exchange as much as a mode of documentation… photographing has become the visual equivalent of cellphone chatter.” [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Photography now functions like casual texting, serving as a quick exchange rather than deep documentation. **In simple terms:** Photos are now like text messages. Key Takeaway Use images purposefully, not just habitually. Themes media communication technology Mood critical observational Type cultural technological When to use this quote - social media - journalism - personal archiving - marketing Key Concepts visual culture digital exchange Questions to Reflect On - How does instant sharing affect memory? - What is the value of deliberate photography? A Different Perspective Superficial sharing can erode depth of meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Photographing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographing/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [Photography was the medium preeminently qualified to unite art with science. Photography was born in the years which ushered in the scientific age, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berenice-abbott/photography-was-the-medium-preeminently-qualified-to-unite-art-with/) [Berenice Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berenice-abbott/) > [“Photography is the only medium messenger in this world that can stop the time”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/photography-is-the-only-medium-messenger-in-this-world-that-can-stop/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/photography-is-more-than-a-medium-for-factual-communication-of-ideas/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Photography really is all about lines, and so is clothing. I worked for Oberto Gili for a couple of years after I was at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minnie-mortimer/photography-really-is-all-about-lines-and-so-is-clothing-i-worked-for/) [Minnie Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minnie-mortimer/) > [In photography, you always have both the medium and the depicted subject at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ruff/in-photography-you-always-have-both-the-medium-and-the-depicted/) [Thomas Ruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ruff/) > [Photography is a medium of formidable contradictions. It is both ridiculously easy and almost impossibly difficult. It is easy because its technical rudiments can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/photography-is-a-medium-of-formidable-contradictions-it-is-both/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [More and more are turning to photography as a medium of expression as well as communication. The leavening of aesthetic approaches continues. While it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beaumont-newhall/more-and-more-are-turning-to-photography-as-a-medium-of-expression-as/) [Beaumont Newhall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beaumont-newhall/) > [Photography is a medium, a language, through which I might come to experience directly, live more closely with, the interaction between myself and nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-caponigro/photography-is-a-medium-a-language-through-which-i-might-come-to/) [Paul Caponigro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-caponigro/) > [Mapplethorpe presented the body as a sexual object, separating it from the humanity of the person. He added nothing to photography as a medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerzy-kosi-ski/mapplethorpe-presented-the-body-as-a-sexual-object-separating-it-from/) [Jerzy Kosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerzy-kosi-ski/) > [I can think of the number of people who were like, 'I will never get a cellphone because I don't want people calling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-crowley/i-can-think-of-the-number-of-people-who-were-like-i-will-never-get-a/) [Dennis Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-crowley/) > [Every kid Grade 6 and up carries a cellphone - with that they can access the world. They are the most connected, aware generation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-walters/every-kid-grade-6-and-up-carries-a-cellphone-with-that-they-can/) [Eric Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-walters/) > [A Masai warrior on a cellphone in the middle of Kenya has better mobile comm than President Reagan did 25 years ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-diamandis/a-masai-warrior-on-a-cellphone-in-the-middle-of-kenya-has-better/) [Peter Diamandis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-diamandis/) > [The phone will always ring. If I leave it even for a moment and go some where, by the time I come back there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saswata-chatterjee/the-phone-will-always-ring-if-i-leave-it-even-for-a-moment-and-go/) [Saswata Chatterjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saswata-chatterjee/) > [After Donald Trump wrote Lindsey Graham's cellphone number on a piece of paper and showed it to everybody, Graham said he's getting a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-fallon/after-donald-trump-wrote-lindsey-graham-s-cellphone-number-on-a-piece/) [Jimmy Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-fallon/) > [That whole 99% thing, they are all in the 1% of the world. Every one of them pays a cellphone bill that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/that-whole-99-thing-they-are-all-in-the-1-of-the-world-every-one-of/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) ## More by Geoffrey Batchen > [The main difference seems to be that, whereas photography still claims some sort of objectivity, digital imaging is an overtly fictional process. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/the-main-difference-seems-to-be-that-whereas-photography-still-claims/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) > [All of us tend to look at photographs as if we are simply gazing through a two-dimensional window onto some outside world. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/all-of-us-tend-to-look-at-photographs-as-if-we-are-simply-gazing/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) > [ \[A digital snapshot\] is meant primarily as a means of communication, and the images being sent are almost as ephemeral as speech, so rarely… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/a-digital-snapshot-is-meant-primarily-as-a-means-of-communication-and/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) > [Human experience comes suspended in the sickly-sweet amniotic fluid of commercial photography. And a world normally animated by abrasive differences is blithely reduced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/human-experience-comes-suspended-in-the-sickly-sweet-amniotic-fluid/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) > [Most importantly, postmodernism comes down on the side of photography and power, not photography as power. As a consequence, photography continues to be conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/most-importantly-postmodernism-comes-down-on-the-side-of-photography/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) > [Over the past two decades, the boundary between photography and other media like painting, sculpture, or performance has become increasingly porous. It would seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/over-the-past-two-decades-the-boundary-between-photography-and-other/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) [Explore all 7 Geoffrey Batchen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) ## More Cellphone quotes > [That whole 99% thing, they are all in the 1% of the world. Every one of them pays a cellphone bill that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/that-whole-99-thing-they-are-all-in-the-1-of-the-world-every-one-of/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [After Donald Trump wrote Lindsey Graham's cellphone number on a piece of paper and showed it to everybody, Graham said he's getting a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-fallon/after-donald-trump-wrote-lindsey-graham-s-cellphone-number-on-a-piece/) [Jimmy Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-fallon/) > [The phone will always ring. If I leave it even for a moment and go some where, by the time I come back there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saswata-chatterjee/the-phone-will-always-ring-if-i-leave-it-even-for-a-moment-and-go/) [Saswata Chatterjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saswata-chatterjee/) > [A Masai warrior on a cellphone in the middle of Kenya has better mobile comm than President Reagan did 25 years ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-diamandis/a-masai-warrior-on-a-cellphone-in-the-middle-of-kenya-has-better/) [Peter Diamandis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-diamandis/) > [Every kid Grade 6 and up carries a cellphone - with that they can access the world. They are the most connected, aware generation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-walters/every-kid-grade-6-and-up-carries-a-cellphone-with-that-they-can/) [Eric Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-walters/) > [I can think of the number of people who were like, 'I will never get a cellphone because I don't want people calling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-crowley/i-can-think-of-the-number-of-people-who-were-like-i-will-never-get-a/) [Dennis Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-crowley/) > [Guys, I had nothing to live for, but then I got a discount on my Cellphone bill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/guys-i-had-nothing-to-live-for-but-then-i-got-a-discount-on-my/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [There is apparently an epidemic of tinnitus in younger people. Tinnitus is ringing in the ears and it can be disabling. Tinnitus is associated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devra-davis/there-is-apparently-an-epidemic-of-tinnitus-in-younger-people/) [Devra Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devra-davis/) > [And we certainly don't have full conversations on cellphones. You know? Usually the reception is so bad, but it's only bad on your side.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-degeneres/and-we-certainly-don-t-have-full-conversations-on-cellphones-you-know/) [Ellen DeGeneres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-degeneres/) > [You want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-alito/you-want-us-to-step-in-and-render-a-decision-based-on-an-assessment/) [Samuel Alito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-alito/) > [The first cellphone I owned was hardly a slim, high-tech device - it was more like a brick with buttons, only with worse reception.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-bruce-cameron/the-first-cellphone-i-owned-was-hardly-a-slim-high-tech-device-it-was/) [W. Bruce Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-bruce-cameron/) > [The average studies of cellphones and brain cancer have studied people who have used cellphones for five years or less. Sometimes eight years. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devra-davis/the-average-studies-of-cellphones-and-brain-cancer-have-studied/) [Devra Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devra-davis/) > [An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator... these are NOT three separate devices! And we are calling it iPhone! Today Apple is going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/an-ipod-a-phone-an-internet-mobile-communicator-these-are-not-three/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I am very happy about Android obviously. I use Android, and it's actually made cellphones very usable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-am-very-happy-about-android-obviously-i-use-android-and-it-s/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [He went over to the leathers and picked them up. Nice Catholic boy like him didn't know much about BDSM, but it looked like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/he-went-over-to-the-leathers-and-picked-them-up-nice-catholic-boy/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) Browse all 108 Cellphone quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone concedes that photography is now a medium of exchange as much as a mode of documentation… photographing has become the visual equivalent of cellphone chatter.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Geoffrey Batchen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-now-a-medium-of-exchange-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cellphone" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-now-a-medium-of-exchange-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/geoffrey-batchen-50812_cellphone_everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-no_612649.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everyone concedes that photography is now a medium of exchange as much as a mode of documentation……” — Geoffrey Batchen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Geoffrey Batchen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everyone concedes that photography is now...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-now-a-medium-of-exchange-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/everyone-concedes-that-photography-is-now-a-medium-of-exchange-as/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```