In an interview, Canadian artist Sarah Johnson talked about how all the photographs have already been taken. No need or use for any more STRAIGHT photographs. So just as photography forced painting into new areas of exploration, so this saturation, this end of photography will force it into exploring new areas.
Manipulation of photos is nothing new. We have also seen the extension of photography into films and video. But I think there is also more to explore in the animation of photographs. Time-based exploration. Frozen time shown to be false time. Frozen time melted, dissolved — and not just in motion.
Remember the notion: beauty is DISTANCE.