Beware - rambling thoughts on digital technology and photography ahead…
As we all know - the digital revolution has opened up a whole new world to us. We can stay connected 24/7, share pictures or messages instantly and have information on almost anything right at our fingertips no matter where we may be. The ease at which we can now conduct business and stay connected with family, friends and colleagues is quite shocking if compared to life 10 years ago. That being said, I feel the digital revolution has done a injustice to the world of photography. In this post I would like to pour out my thoughts on this topic and outline the pros and cons of the digital revolution in terms of art and photography. I also would hope anyone reading this would voice their own opinions on the subject. I’ve been struggling with this issue for a while and feel the need to get my opinions out there if only to clarify things in my own head.
I did not begin exploring photography as an art until I started college. Many of my new friends at CMU had been taking photography for years at their high schools and knew the darkroom like the back of their hand. About 2 years into school I took my first black and white photography class and fell in love with the process. Shooting the film was just the beginning of the fun. I learned not only how to develop a roll and print the images masterfully, but I learned alternative processes that made printing feel like an art-form itself.
In my junior and senior year I discovered the world of color. I was one of the lucky ones that had access to the color darkroom and color processor. I even did an independent study with the then dean of the College of Fine Arts - Martin Prekop. It was fantastic. For my senior show I did an in-depth study of Polaroids, including taking photos with both SX-70 film as well as 4×5 black and white Polaroid film. With the SX-70 film I would take apart the backing of the photo - clean off all the disgusting chemicals and enlarge it on a color enlarger and print the result. With the 4×5 film I would take the negative and color it using Prisma markers. I would then print that negative with some fantastic results, this being an example:
Of course I graduated, no longer had access to a darkroom of any sort and there ended my photography obsession. Until recently.
Recently my father gave me the Leica cameras my grandfather had owned and my obsession with photography has returned. I had been religious at constantly taking snapshots with my oh-so-convenient digital camera and posting them to Flickr but again I realized what a REAL camera can do that a run-of-the-mill digital camera cannot. I have begun scouring Flickr, looking at beautiful images and wondering how these people have taken such amazing shots. Then I realized… dun dun dun, these aren’t the raw shots - they have been doctored in Photoshop! My goodness… that’s not real color - it has been saturated in Photoshop! What happened to the days of photographers having to be GOOD at their trade, taking beautiful shots rather than mediocre shots and sprucing them up in Photoshop? Many photographers are doing such things and passing them off as not having been fixed up at all!
Well this issue has been bothering me like crazy - this whole new era of Photoshop. So the question is… is Photoshop a crutch or is there an art to Photoshoping these photos. I myself am a graphic designer, and I use Photoshop on a daily basis to fix up photos to look decent in brochures and other marketing materials. To me that feels fine - but I have a hard time calling someone a photographer that cannot originally capture a beautiful raw image but rather has to rely on Photoshop to make something out of the image he or she has captured. Can you REALLY call yourself a photographer if you rely on Photoshop? “Fake” and “phony” are words that come to mind… but should I be thinking this?
To expand the argument even further you can go into digital art entirely. As an artist I grew up with the basics, pencil and paper. I spent many years refining my skills only to start over again doing the same thing in college as a graphic designer before ever touching a computer. Now I constantly run into people that call themselves “digital artists” that can create all kinds of images on the computer but incapable of even drawing a straight line. I don’t really think “fake or phony” with them because they are proud of being a digital artist and can create some amazing works, but I still have to wonder if it is technically as impressive as creating the same piece without the aid of a computer.
Now that I have explained my argument I will go ahead and site the pros and cons of digital art and photography in an effort to help me make sense of this all and then I will ask you to be the judge. I know digital is here to stay and in many ways I have greatly embraced it (I am a graphic designer after all). However, I’m still not sure that I can keep from seeing it as a cop-out when used in the art and photography realm:
Pros of Digital Art & Photography: Quick to produce (no processing, printing or drying time), Cheaper to produce in bulk, instant gratification, easier to mass produce and promote, must have a “good eye” yet one can lack other artistic abilities such as drawing. Makes art more accessible and makes for more artists.
Cons of Digital Art & Photography: The “art” of making pieces by hand is becoming lost. It cheapens the hard work hands-on artists have dedicated themselves to. Anyone can be a artist without having the God-given physical abilities. Pricing for original works has dropped because digital work can be reproduced cheaply and high qualities. There are more self-proclaimed artists out there trying to get their piece of the pie, ultimately making everyone’s piece smaller and smaller.
It is interesting how the pros and cons can be so similiar just depending on how you look at things. I know in many ways these cons can also be felt as a graphic designer. Sure we use computers now - turn around times are much fast now that there is no literally “paste up” to do. However, computers have attracted the masses who, yet again, proclaim to be “graphic designers” whether they have the eye or the ability, cheapening the profession and making it harder for the true graphic designers to get work. This also makes for frustrated clients who are looking for a good graphic designer and contracting with those that have no idea what they are doing (I’ve heard some horror stories!).
So it all comes full circle. In the end I’m complaining about a technology that keeps me employed and speeds up my work-flow. But I have to ask the question yet again - when it comes to art, TRUE art and photography, does a computer have its place? or are those using the computer to make their photos and pieces of art beautiful simply mediocre to begin with?
My latest piece - finished this past weekend! It is called “Decay” and unlike most of my works, it is actually a bit of a multimedia piece, including some special papers, gesso for texture, some clue and plenty of oil paint. I felt that I needed to break out of my comfort zone and do something that was a bit more messy… and that expressed my overall current mood for the last few weeks. I’ve been a bit disappointed with our country and the world today. The greed and corruption seems to be winning out these days and that sad fact has been weighing on my mind as of late. This painting was a way to cleanse my brain (if that is possible) and rid myself of the negative energy I have been storing.
I came across this artist on Design Milk this morning and wanted to share his work. I have tried my hand at watercolor many times very unsuccessfully so when I see a beautiful watercolor piece I’m always drawn in and yet a tad bit jealous of the artist’s ability. To see more of Darren’s work go to: http://www.darrenwaterston.com
I find myself being much more creative with my free time since having a child. And one of the ways I’ve begun exploring this new-found creativity is through the lense of a camera. This shot was taken between phone calls and work one afternoon… a moment of my time used in the best way imaginable. Now I can hold onto it forever! Next time you have 5 minutes, grab a camera, make a doodle, or whatever tickles your fancy, you just never know where it may lead!
This past weekend we went as a family to explore Discovery Green. This is a park in the middle of Downtown Houston that has so much to offer. There is a wonderful playground area, restaurants, a fountain area for children to play in the water, a swim area, a pond stocked with fish, a beautiful large fountain for gazing, a dog park and beautiful sitting areas with plenty of colorful flowers. Our favorite part of the park was the green grass areas… the grass was so warm and inviting, soft and thick. We let Chloe loose and she was a crawling machine, checking out others playing ball, chasing the birds and visiting the dogs. She LOVED it - and what was even more amazing was that she did not need ANYTHING to be entertained, she just enjoyed crawling in the beautiful grass, and when nothing else was around she would simply chase her shadow. I keep thinking - if only life could be this simple for adults. But then I realize, it CAN be if we let it. If we just let our worries float away and we take ourselves to a place such as this we can be just as care free as a baby every once in a while.
You can see it everywhere you turn… children beginning to bundle up, darkness arriving earlier than expected each evening. Leaves changing colors and falling. This is the perfect time to capture the beautiful colors of the season with a camera. This photo was taken of our Japanese Maple in our backyard using a Leica SL2 recently acquired from my father.
This is yet another shot taken by my Lomo LC-A+. It is very strange how the flower is out of focus yet the surface of the water and even the lily pad jetting out of the water seems to be in focus. This is what makes the Lomo so wonderful. There are only 4 focus points and of course you cannot see how it is focusing through the viewfinder so you simply have to be good at guessing distances and hope for the best!
Note to self: clean the back window today.
Taken with my Lomo LC-A+
This photo was originally taken with my LOMO LC+A and then converted to a Poladroid 
