POY and World Press Photo contests

This year's POY and World Press Photo contests were gruesome to look at, for the most part. This depiction of misery isn't some phase, however, it is life in today's society. If you look back at the stability of the economy and then compare it to the pictures of that time period, you will notice a trend. When things in the economy and society are going well, the pictures tend to convey happier subjects. When things in the economy and society are not so well, say being in two wars and having a huge federal deficit, the subject matter tends to be more gloomy and misery laden. That is why the winning pictures of this year's photo contests are mostly of misery and death. On the same note, there is discussion floating around about how some of the pictures were taken, like using an iphone or taking pictures off the internet from Google's photo van. Using an iphone, or any camera phone, is okay, but the picture quality is not going to be as good, but that is the risk you take for using that type of camera. And I don't think you can call yourself a professional, because anyone can use a camera phone, but it takes a professional to use today's DSLR's. Taking photos from Google's photo van, however, is equivalent to stealing in my book. It is also like plagiarizing. You didn't take the pictures, you stole them off the internet from someone else and called them yours, therefore you should not get the credit. Anyone, for the most part, can screen capture an image off a computer; again, it does not make you a professional. I think people will do anything these days to get there's names published, but it does not mean they deserve it.