Toby Ord: a photograph carries only about 42 bytes of information
tobyordoxford · x · 2026-09-07
Philosopher Toby Ord publishes a long-form essay, "Curating the World," arguing that a photograph carries very little information — roughly 42 bytes. He distinguishes the file-based view (a 20MP, 14-bit RAW file at 35MB, 10MB compressed) from viewing photography as communication from photographer to audience: only a handful of controllable decisions — timing, framing, selection — constitute the true bandwidth. Understanding this, he argues, changes how we see photography and curation itself.
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