I accept
that the battle has been lost. Digital photography is here to stay, I admit it.
I remember discussing this with my colleagues in the early 90s and saying that
this digital crap (not the word used at the time) will never be as good as
film. I also said that zoom lenses were just a passing fad, but that is for
another post. If you are wondering why it has taken me so long to come to this
conclusion I guess the short answer is that I have been doing traditional
photography for more that 30 years and I was finally beginning to get pretty
good at it.
Why this
sudden change of heart? I guess it is because I have come to accept some
undeniable truths about digital photography and in the long run I see it as a
good thing. These revelations include: 1. Digital image quality is at least equal
and sometimes better than that of film. 2. Digital photography is easier. This
semester for the first time I taught beginning digital photography and
beginning traditional photography. The digital photography students had a much
easier time of it. 3. Manufacturers are making printers that use pigment inks
which produce prints with archival quality. 4. Digital media (paper) such as
Epson’s Exhibition Fine Art are similar in look and feel to high quality
photographic papers but you don’t have to worry about fogging them. 5. Many
manufacturers of film products have gone bankrupt or shifted their priorities
to digital. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find supplies for
traditional photography. 6. And this is most important to me, DSLR
manufacturers are developing cameras the have ISOs of 6400 and higher without
noise (grain). This is probably the most revolutionary advancement since the
advent of digital images. It is clearly a game changer and it is something I
would never be able to do with film.
Don’t get
me wrong. I still think that doing digital photography is like asking a
formally trained master French chef to cook a meal in a microwave oven. And
looking at a digital print is like looking at a man with shaved legs—it looks
o.k., but you know that something ain’t right.
But I have
finally accepted that maybe there is a place for both digital and traditional
photography. Since 90% of my photography is black and white, I still like to
shoot Tri-X film and process it in Ilford ID 11 film developer. This is a
combination that has worked for me for a long, long time. I then scan the
negatives and process the images in PhotoShop. I have even shot color film
because of its expanded tonal range and converted these images to black and
white with some success (Disney Concert Hall portfolio).
I am over
feeling that I am selling out because I recognize I can’t fight “progress”. The
reality is that in the not to distance future, I won’t even be able to buy my
precious Tri-X (that is why I’m hoarding it) and even if I could I would
probably have to make my own ID11.
I have come
out of the darkroom and into the light. After all it is all about the image,
Right!? Maybe one day I will even accept color as a viable form of photography.
NOT LIKELY!!!
