----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Waterson"
Subject: Re: Wow, Canvas "is" dead (Was maybe film *is* dead!)
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
Try putting a paint brush in that novices hand and see if the results are
any better.
Try putting a 100 dollar compact in that same persons hand and see what they
come up with.
Take a half hour to let that novice read the Blad's owners manual and see
what they can do.
Give that same novice a half hour to read "paining for Dummies" and then cut
them loose, and see if they are suddenly instant Rembrandts.
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.
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.
And this is going to last for another how many semesters?
"Oh, our supplier can't seem to get us paper and chemistry any more. I guess
we had better get with the 21st century"
Could you send me a list of those schools, I want to check their curriculum?
I think 120 film will servive a litte longer
Don't count on it. 120 is the domain of the professional photographer.
That's the guy who is now using a Canon 1D, and isn't looking back.
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.
You can only teach what they want to learn, and you can only do what you can
get product to do it with.
Silver imaging is going to take a 100 year turn for the worse very soon, to
the point if you want to shoot the stuff, you'll be coating your own.
I wonder if the Greeks have a word meaning "Painting with Pixels"?
Pixography.
William Robb
