Photography Has a Big Gaze Problem

When you meet a group of photographers, the conversation, unsprisingly, turns towards cameras. Which camera are you using? When will you upgrade? Is Sony actually better than Canon? Why is an f1.2 lens better than an f1.8 lens? But what about the gaze? What about the contents of an image? Who is actually "seeing" rather than simply consuming images? Despite trillions of images online, we often come across works that are almost identical. Is novelty dead? Absolutely not. But why do we fee...