I’m off tomorrow which is good. I needed to break the routine. I passed of developing the film from last night due most part of the day in motion. And this evening when parking lots of malls are empty from the Christmas shoppers it was so nice to find a convenient spot right in front of Barns and Noble, read some books on Buddhism and browse the History section.
Today got me thinking of heart and technical photography. One is created with vision powerful to overcome technical inefficiencies and the other is based on critical elements focused on perfection in competition with other work. I have created both. But today in particular I am thinking how much more rewarding it is to print. Love for the process. The crucial part is finding the right negative. The secondary part but equally important is the interpretation of this negative. This is why I insist on printing my work to my limits. Of course my work might be printed by someone else in some instances but until I have to give it away I put all I have right into it.
I am not denouncing Digital. But every time I think how slow a cell phone acts in very cold weather or how quickly heat can kill battery in electronics, I resort to film cameras as being able go beyond. Heat can damage film I suppose, especially slide film, but the conditions would need to be still harsher where electronic equipment’s optimal range reaches its max. There is a snip in a supplement to PDN magazine how Medium format cameras will vanish by 2020 because of advancement in technology. I do not doubt the advancement but I disagree with the other suggestions that scanners will no longer be needed. Printed media will have a life outside of the web and for as long as negatives existed there will be going ‘back’ to get mode out of negatives turning ‘historic’. The scanners will simply be better (and hopefully cheaper because so many will shoot digital from 2010).
From 8x10 to 35mm took roughly 50 to 75 years in the beginning of photography. So we see big detailed images to tiny fraction of the original capturing the moments of history (photojournalism by means of mobility of the 35mm). But now that so many people carry a digital camera of various sizes, what’s left to photograph? Tiny cameras are everywhere. Mobility is key to volume but sadly not quality. The 35mm reduction of old 8x10 cameras transformed the speed and presence of cameras which translated directly into digital tiny portable cameras.
But going back to the original premise: Heart vs. Technical photography. The answer is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have begun to shoot 4x5 because the details are what draws me near but technical proficiency is needed to get at least one frame exposed. I don’t like people who snap and call it art. I believe talent shows over course of lifetime. I do however find myself more that instead of knowing what I want to shoot I choose to collect my thoughts with time. Humanity, body form (female), characters of people I come to meet, architecture are all elements that invoke an emotional response of me. So even if an image might be blurred it still came from the same inspiration to set up my tools.
Today got me thinking of heart and technical photography. One is created with vision powerful to overcome technical inefficiencies and the other is based on critical elements focused on perfection in competition with other work. I have created both. But today in particular I am thinking how much more rewarding it is to print. Love for the process. The crucial part is finding the right negative. The secondary part but equally important is the interpretation of this negative. This is why I insist on printing my work to my limits. Of course my work might be printed by someone else in some instances but until I have to give it away I put all I have right into it.
I am not denouncing Digital. But every time I think how slow a cell phone acts in very cold weather or how quickly heat can kill battery in electronics, I resort to film cameras as being able go beyond. Heat can damage film I suppose, especially slide film, but the conditions would need to be still harsher where electronic equipment’s optimal range reaches its max. There is a snip in a supplement to PDN magazine how Medium format cameras will vanish by 2020 because of advancement in technology. I do not doubt the advancement but I disagree with the other suggestions that scanners will no longer be needed. Printed media will have a life outside of the web and for as long as negatives existed there will be going ‘back’ to get mode out of negatives turning ‘historic’. The scanners will simply be better (and hopefully cheaper because so many will shoot digital from 2010).
From 8x10 to 35mm took roughly 50 to 75 years in the beginning of photography. So we see big detailed images to tiny fraction of the original capturing the moments of history (photojournalism by means of mobility of the 35mm). But now that so many people carry a digital camera of various sizes, what’s left to photograph? Tiny cameras are everywhere. Mobility is key to volume but sadly not quality. The 35mm reduction of old 8x10 cameras transformed the speed and presence of cameras which translated directly into digital tiny portable cameras.
But going back to the original premise: Heart vs. Technical photography. The answer is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have begun to shoot 4x5 because the details are what draws me near but technical proficiency is needed to get at least one frame exposed. I don’t like people who snap and call it art. I believe talent shows over course of lifetime. I do however find myself more that instead of knowing what I want to shoot I choose to collect my thoughts with time. Humanity, body form (female), characters of people I come to meet, architecture are all elements that invoke an emotional response of me. So even if an image might be blurred it still came from the same inspiration to set up my tools.
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