Craft is a tool and in most cases not the end product. Along with craft there is the need of art and creativity to make a unique photograph that can become the “signature” of the maker. Through time craft has had many ways of being expressed in the final print. To single one way and to judge all work using this as a standard, diminishes the artistic creative process. What kind of art world would we have if all we had was one genre of painting? Whose would you choose, your favorite? What about mine, or would it be OK to have both, perhaps many more?
Today for many people film and silver gelatin prints are being replaced with digital. Each period in the history of photography has featured a craft that is eventually replaced with another drastically different craft. A list would include dye transfer, platinum , palladium, paper negatives, photograms, cyanotypes, bromoils, carbro, carbon, gum-bichromate, kallitype and xerography. Some of these craft tools used in the past have stood the test of time and several are currently used.
Now there is a new kid on the block, Digital. To many, Digital is synonymous with cheating, but to others it is a remarkable tool that makes the impossible possible. For the first time the photographer can visualize and create an image that is not totally dependent on the laws of optics or the limitations of the darkroom.. The craft, art and creativity to produce the final presentation is now only limited by the imagination, talent, and skill of the photographer. Whether it is a simple tabletop or a Dali like image, digital can enhance the result in a way impossible with film alone.
The original image can be captured by digital camera, scanned film, or even a scanned print. Once the image is digitized it is malleable, the photographer can then work on obtaining his unique visualization. Like with any new process much of what is done digitally is nothing but novelty or experimental fun. In contrast there are the serious artistic presentations in color and black and white that were impossible to make a few short years ago.
There seems to be a feeling that one must give up the use of film if digital is used. This might be true if only small fixed back cameras are used. But as long as there is a need for the corrections possible with the larger view camera, film will be used, at least until a digital back is a practical monetary investment.
There is also another possibility, the use of both film and digital.
