detached portraits

GRID1 of Syracuse. Disillusion of the Syracuse Child.

Response to Ectoplasm

I have to admit, I started off reading this essay only by force, making grunts of disapproval at the early claims that were made. But as I continued on through the heap of a lot of pretentious words and many comparisons, I eventually changed my shaking head to a nod within a couple of minutes. The writer seemed to almost change his mind mid-way through the essay, which kind of through me for a loop. At first the claim was made that digital photography is the cause for the death of film photography much like the start of photography was the "death" of painting. Of course, I can see that in the late 1800's, how people may have reacted to this "black magic" art, and how painting was now going to become obsolete, but of course, this wasn't necessarily true. Painting did not disappear or even "die" for that matter, it changed. There wasn't much of a need for photorealistic painting any more so the styles changed. Digital Photography is "the new guy" and of course the art of photography is going to have to adjust, just like art has done for ages. This instance might be slightly different though, because unlike painting, film photography might actually become obsolete within the next few years, but I feel that digital photography is prepared to pick up the slack. The essay suggests that the integrity of the photo as an observational art form is diminished but I think it is only getting more interesting. Digital Photography is much more well rounded than film photography ever was or could be. Not only can a photographer take a photo of a situation and present it as it was in reality (with slight tonal, and exposure changes, the same in film) but they can also fabricate an entire new scenario from the same picture. It is true that film is on it's way out but digital photography is some much more versatile. I actually believe that with a little practice and acceptance, digital photography can allow an artist to be more creative when creating their photographs because there are so many different paths that they can travel on.

Garbage Self-Portrait 2/1