The Rise of the Brotog Culture

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Photo by Kal Visuals on Unsplash

There are several annoying stereotypes in the photo/video/film world.

There is the film schooler. The skinny jeans and Chucks-wearing tortured genius who channels Truffaut and Godard. He hates all films made after 1995 and will tell you so while chain-smoking his “natural” cigarettes. He vehemently supports auteur theory despite its abusive practices and carries around a worn-out copy of Cahiers du Cinéma just to impress people who have never heard of it.

Then there’s the old school video professional. This semi-retired, nearly always male individual still uses Betamax and thinks of himself as a blue-collar worker. He’s not, though. He’s probably been laid off several times due to the dismantling of the media industry, yet refuses to adapt to change. His self-worth is determined by how well he can wrap cables. He prefers to carry his camera on his shoulder like a true video professional.

There’s the street photographer purist. He’s an artist who sees the world 36 frames at a time. He considers himself to be the next Henri Cartier-Bresson, despite the current evolution of street photography being digitally-based and centered around smartphones. He uses a Leica or a vintage Hasselblad because he believes these brands make a higher-quality print. He…