Here’s a riddle: what do you call a blog dedicated to discussing photography? Hint: it’s not “photoblog.” According to most sources, including Wikipedia, the Photobloggies Awards and the Open Directory project (DMOZ), the definition of photoblog is a blog that uses photography as its primary medium, in addition to or in place of text.
The answer to my original riddle is, for the time being, “nothing.” Am I the only one who finds this strange? Political blogs are blogs that discuss politics, art blogs are blogs that discuss art, gossip blogs are blogs that discuss gossip, but photo blogs are online journals that use photos. Given the exploding numbers of blogs devoted to the discussion of photography (often begun by photographers themselves, featuring photographs but not using them as a primary medium), it seems to me that the term “photoblog” is due for a redefinition–or at least an expansion of meaning. Maybe “photoblog” should be a blog about photography, and “photo diary” should be a blog that uses photography as a medium of self-expression. I’ve got a hunch that it’s too late to straighten things out, though; my guess is that, for the time being, all the blogs dedicated to examining and discussing photography will remain nameless.
