This one time, at band camp, "William Robb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I think regardless of cost, film will survive. When the first Black and > > White > > photos became comercially available I can almost here the artists > > screaming... > > There are a couple of key differences at play here. > Few people can paint well, it's always been that way. > Most people can take a decent photograph, providing they have a camera of > some sort. I could put a new Blad in the hands of a novice and they may produce a snapshot. I could but a disposable camera in the hands of a photographer and the results would be far better. We actually did this at our local camera club, although not with a Blad > Photography was not really competition for painting as an art form so much > as a democratizer, in that all of a sudden, most anyone could make good > "art". I agree here to the point of what the beholder calls art. > Digital imaging is a direct competitor to about 98% of film's customers, and > is becoming very widely accepted by that customer base, and is being pushed > very hard as a desirable alternative to film by both manufacturers and the > service industry. > > Painting is still being taught in most every art school, photography schools > are abandoning film entirely. > > The people aren't buying it anymore, the artists aren't being taught with it > anymore. In some areas this is not so. In my area there are many photography schools using film. Most of these wish to teach darkroom skills etc so that the art is not lost, much as painting is still taught. > > Every lab operator I talk to is saying film processing volumes are in > freefall. > We've dropped another 10% since Christmas, and film processing is less than > 40% of it's peak volume of 3 years ago, which was our busiest year since we > started doing photoprocessing in Canada. Even I am part of this, yesterday I had printed from digital 240 shots and later processed a single roll of 120 in my darkroom > Further, half of our film processing is now single use cameras, which > eventually will be the only film available, I am betting sooner rather than > later on this one. > You might want to learn how to optimize Kodak Max800, it's what you are > going to be shooting in a couple of years from now. > Unless you are shooting digital, that is. I think 120 film will servive a litte longer > I know this is an unpopular outlook, but it is what I am seeing, working > within the industry. I don't like it, but I have to be realistic about the > trends I am seeing in my industry. Unpopular or not, it is mostly realistic. At the same time I believe it is is up to the photographers of today to pass on the art to the next generation so that the art is no lost. I wonder if the Greeks have a word meaning "Painting with Pixels"? Kind regards Kevin -- "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
