At 03:04 AM 9/5/2004, Bob Talbot wrote:
In a non-confrontational way, truth is photgraphers (I mean members of the public rather than pros) are more than ever ready to fire off frame after frame after frame in the hope that some will be usable - 99% are truly thrown-away.....
I totally agree with the first statement, though I'm not so sure about the 99%: I think that's a bit sweeping - though my throw-aways are nearer 100%!! What is important to my mind is the immense revival of enthusiasm in photography on the part of the "ordinary" public. I see this too at my school (U.K.) where photography has gone from maybe 10 students (aged 16-18) per annum to over 70 starting this coming week, making it probably the most popular subject in the school at that age group! So don't knock digital photography; if someone wants to pursue film techniques, that's great by me too. But let's drop the prententious claims about analogue being better than digital or vice versa - it's the image(s) that count.
Digital is just part of this ongoing process. In a few years, the argument that digital lets people shoot "too much" will sit in the waste bin with all the other ideas that exist solely to preserve an existing paradigm.
Jeff Spirer Photos: http://www.spirer.com One People: http://www.onepeople.com/ Surfaces and Marks: http://www.withoutgrass.com
Howard
P.S. I've just been practising my B&W darkroom skill before writing this so I'm not just another digifreak...
