Friday, August 10, 2018

Analog Versus Digital

About five years ago I was trying to discuss with a friend what I was looking for in my photographs, why his photos looked different than mine, and why I was not real happy with the DSLRs of that era. He was somewhat condescending and considered himself an expert because he had lots of online training, even though I was getting paid for photography 30 years before he ever picked a camera up.  Then it occurred to me that he had never seen film. He had only seen photographs originating from digital sensors and not from film. These days almost every image a beginning photographer sees originates from a digital sensor and not from film, and in many cases is extensively post processed, and the photos are usually viewed on an electronic screen and not as prints on paper.  Now, I don’t spend much time debating with other photographers about cameras or sensors, quietly doing what I do, which is selling prints that look the way I want them to at art shows and markets. People who are genuinely interested in art don’t care what camera was used. I have learned that if a person at an art show or market asks about what camera I use, they usually consider themselves a photographer, and if I tell them what camera I used for a particular photograph, they will make a judgment based on that information rather than what they are seeing in front of them. So I usually just answer that I have about six cameras, different brands, and both film and digital, and start talking about what I think is significant about the image in the print. People who appreciate art don’t care about the tools, only the result.

No comments:

Post a Comment