What an age we live in! It boggles the mind to imagine what our ancestors would have made of the marvelous technology we enjoy every day. Progress is a tremendous force for good. And yet, photography has changed irreversibly.

Gone are the days of hefty wooden cameras, painfully long exposures, and noxious darkroom chemicals. Now that so many people carry around devices that can take thousands of pictures and transmit them anywhere instantly, has the medium lost its significance? Was photography back then perhaps more special, or more joyful? Is humanity really better off with so much instant gratification?