Where now, O Photography?
Kia Ora tatou:
The holidays are a great time to take a break, sit back and reassess all sorts of things.
Photography is no exception. There is no question that digital has matured as a technology. Just look at what is now available in camera stores (and what isn’t). I remember about 12 years ago being invited to a Kodak trade show where we were introduced to a cutting-edge programme called Aldus PhotoStyler and its Mac rival, photoShop 1, as well as the latest 1+MP professional camera (it cost >$NZ 25 000!). They confidently assured us that digital would have completely replaced film by 1995!
Interestingly enough, the cameras we now use are developmental extensions of film-based technologies. We are part of a long tradition that stretches back into the 19th century. As such we are participants in a dance whose steps were formulated by our forbears. Any movements we make are in in one way or another dictated by the photographers who came before us. A kind of danse traditionelle, if you will. Developing a new approach is not easy (assuming we want to do so).
For those of you who wish to view your photographic direction in the rear-view mirror of photographic tradition, may I suggest this essay by Irwin Puts, a long-time Leica commentator and authority. Some of his thoughts are provocative but clearly argued. Leica fans will not enjoy aspects of it!
As a taste:
……..Digitalization of photography means that the main expansion will occur in the consumer electronics domain where the prosumers and the instant snap-shooters with the mobile cam/phone will dominate. The true amateur photographer may become extinct unless we can focus on photographic quality as the result of a craft that is worth pursuing….
Print FriendlyPublished on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006, under Technical posts
The “true amateur photographer” will never die.
These are the photographers who make images because they feel they have something to say be it about people and where they live; and the landscape. They do not suffer from the contraints of the professional photographer – client needs & the necessity to have a living. Nor do they have the issues confronting the prosumer. I remember standing in front of a movie theatre that had a giant blowup of a black LOTR character hanging from the roof. Along side me were approx 20 people taking photos into the sun of a black balloon with their phone cameras. I wonder how many of those files got printed as 8×12?
Digital has made it easier for more people to be photographers – be it just for birthdays, kids etc. Maybe among all these extra folk there are a few individuals who find they have found something really special & want to improve their ability. Maybe then… they become a “true amateur photographer.”
I remember us all having a discussion in your Portrait summer school 3 years ago. You asked us all how low would prices for digital cameras have to come before we would consider buying one. At that stage they were at least $10,000. Most of us said they would have to come down to about $4000 before we could consider it, and we laughed, then raced off to the lab to pick up our prints. How dramatically things changed after that.–>