No Thanks Google--I'll Do the Editing

Since last winter, I have made Google photo my main online space for saving my photographs.  It has proven to be a useful way to keep my pics organized and always at the ready for use. And it has been interesting to experiment with Google Photo's Auto-Awesome feature. With this feature turned on, Google will manipulate images in a number of ways. Some of these I have quite enjoyed, like the way it will turn a series of images into a gif:

This has been quite handy and fun to explore. What I am less sure about is the way Google will enhance photos:

On the right is my photo. The "auto-awesome" enhancement is on the left. It’s a great image, but I had nothing to do with it beyond pointing and clicking the camera. At times I consider posting these, but I don’t because it is not my work. I enjoy editing my pics, whether I do this in Google photo, Pixlr Express, or PicMonkey. In fact, here's my own editing process for the photo on the right, including cropping, brightening areas, applying tilt focus, and frame:

Regardless of the outcome, the value is in the process itself. It is reminiscent of David Gauntlett's ideas about creativity in his book Making is Connecting. Here's what he had to say in an interview with Henry Jenkins:

Everyday creativity refers to a process which brings together at least one active human mind, and the material or digital world, in the activity of making something which is novel in that context, and is a process which evokes a feeling of joy.

An active human mind--exactly. This is not about becoming a professional photographer. It is about having agency over the way I represent the world I see around me. Instead of letting a program do the work for me, I want to be in control. There is meaning in my decisions that disappears when I allow Google to manipulate the image.

I start the new school year this week. As I do, I will be thinking a lot about student and teacher agency. In this era of high stakes testing and top-down mandates, the challenge is to carve out the time and space necessary for my students and I to focus on questions that are relevant and engaging. And to make the classroom a collaborative learning community where we produce and share work based on these questions. As I think about what I want for my students and myself, it is to experience the frustration, surprise, and wonder that comes from creating, regardless of medium. There is no way to cut corners in this. There is no way to cheat. One must put in the effort to experiment. Whether working with images, video, or text, discovery and resonance only arise when one takes responsibility for creating based upon individual vision.

That's awesome. And I'm ready to begin again.