a thought on digital photography

In another 20-50 years as we look for images of our world we will discover many of them have disappeared. No more old shoeboxes found in the trunk, full of old B&W images from the past. Too many CD's & other non-viewable digital junk that will be unusable.

 

Change our world? Yes, but not for the positive in many cases.

I used to be considered a pretty good photographer, and an excellent printer. I capture and print digitally these days. I'm no longer considered a great printer. It's all about technogical changes, however you frame the rhetorical/semantical arguement. The guy who used to produce the best wagon wheel is obsolete, by the way.

"I think Neil has a point - it's not just kids. I only print things now that will go up on a wall or get sent to someone, otherwise, it's straight to the digital file. There's no need to print things that won't get shown as a print because I can look at them on the screen. Before digital technology, I could only look at and show prints."

 

yes, but this is not any different than all the negatives and tiny images on my contact prints that have never been made into a real presentable prints because I did not feel they were good enough. There is no difference to me in the end, except that with digital those "unprinted" images are now on a tiny screen as opposed to a contact sheet or in my book of negs.

 

So far, I think the book analogy does hold true. I can't hang a bunch of monitors on my wall for instance (not yet anyway); I think people prefer tactile things. And though you can pass around a tiny digital screen to someone, it's not the same as being able to pass a bigger print (no matter what, tiny small monitors will never have the same impact or impression on the viewer as a bigger print-in this instance size does matter). Maybe someday we'll have bigger 8X10, 11X14, 20X24 monitors to hang on our walls and pass around to each other and be able to look at and ponder on...but until then, I think we will continue to print out our more valued digital images.

Jeff's son is one example... my sons (aged 2.5 and 5ish) regularly get photo albums off the bookcase shelves and browse thru them. They also come into the darkroom and 'help' (who needs automated print agitation devices when they have unpaid helpers but they are a bit unreliable arounf the enlather timer buttons!) Occasionly they look at pics on the screen (theres a new digigizmo in the house).