Digital technology ruined photography for me, or did people ruin it? (or both)

The_Traveler · Dec 22, 2014

photoguy99 said:
You can choose to make yourself special by doing something more than basic photography. You can do wet plate. You can print. You can make books. More importantly, you can shoot with purpose. As long as you have something to say, you're not making copies any more.

These things may or may not cause your social circle to see your work as anything. They might make you see it as something, though, which is more to the point.

This is a different fork in the trail.

Technology has elevated 'doing' to an almost unbelievable level.
I just read an article about an artist who expresses his view of the world by constructing things, in the latest case a 26 foot boat, out of 3d printed parts that he assembles and paints. This latest boat has 100,000 pieces and they are being printed by a phalanx of thirty 3d printers.
The bar for 'being special' is way too high to make that a reasonable goal.

weepete · Dec 22, 2014

I said most Gary. You Lecia guys are all a bit weird anyway.

photoguy99 · Dec 22, 2014

You're not going to be "globally special", basically. All you can reasonably expect is to be "special enough" for whatever your own purpose is.

Arguably you should aim for global, though. If you aim low, you're sure to hit it, and all that.

Buckster · Dec 22, 2014

photoguy99 said:
You're not going to be "globally special", basically. All you can reasonably expect is to be "special enough" for whatever your own purpose is.

Arguably you should aim for global, though. If you aim low, you're sure to hit it, and all that.

Why bother at all if photography is truly ruined now anyway?

pixmedic · Dec 22, 2014

I dont know why people are complaining about digital ...Photography was ruined long before digital.....
As soon as roll film replaced wet plate it was all over.

photoguy99 · Dec 22, 2014

I don't think it's ruined. Radically changed, sure. Increasingly difficult to find ones way in? Yeah, that too.

But not ruined. In some ways more awesome thank ever. The technical clutter had been entirely pushed aside, for one thing.

imagemaker46 · Dec 22, 2014

Maybe for some, yes for many, and no for everyone else that decided they were good enough to try and make money from it with the help the technology it offers.

gsgary · Dec 22, 2014

weepete said:
I said most Gary. You Lecia guys are all a bit weird anyway.

Terrible what happened again in Glasgow

weepete · Dec 22, 2014

gsgary said:
Terrible what happened again in Glasgow

Aye mate, it was indeed. It was mobbed at the weekend so it would have been busy. My wean was going to go in tomorrow with her mates to the ice skating as well. I'm just thanking God they were not in town today.

Last I heard the death toll was 6, need to wait for the names now and hope it doesn't get any worse. At least they were about 2 mins from the Royal so the emergency services got there quick.

Gotta feel for the friends and families who have lost someone.

weepete · Dec 22, 2014

Here's a link to the story for everyone else

BBC News - Six people killed and eight injured in Glasgow bin lorry crash

I guess the point is stop worrying about abstract aspects of what we do, just get out and enjoy it as you never know when the ride will stop.

Gary A. · Dec 22, 2014

For me, growing up in the film-only days, it was the darkroom that separated "true" photographers from the wannabees. It was an easy and distinct line ... the darkroom was truly a line in the sand. With the popularity of digital, anybody with a computer and a printer could make a 8x10 ... the line in the sand has been erased and trampled.

I sorta miss the days of exclusivity ... of when "Photographer" was reserved to the few who truly desired to be a photographer.

tirediron · Dec 22, 2014

pixmedic said:
I dont know why people are complaining about digital ...Photography was ruined long before digital.....
As soon as roll film replaced wet plate it was all over.

Hell's bells man.... what do you think the camera obscura people were saying when that donkey-hole Daguerre came along????

rexbobcat · Dec 22, 2014

I think I have the solution. Just shoot film and make sure to bring all the attention to the fact that you shoot film.

The goal is to distract others from your mediocrity by making your photos all about the process.

You'll have that e-fame in no time.

Designer · Dec 22, 2014

weepete said:
Last I heard the death toll was 6,

In reading the story, I didn't catch the identity of the lorry driver.

I'm naturally suspicious of anything that seems like it could have been prevented, but somehow wasn't.

They need to study the driver and find out if there was any motive for him to do that on purpose.

weepete · Dec 22, 2014

Gary A. said:
For me, growing up in the film-only days, it was the darkroom that separated "true" photographers from the wannabees. It was an easy and distinct line ... the darkroom was truly a line in the sand. With the popularity of digital, anybody with a computer and a printer could make a 8x10 ... the line in the sand has been erased and trampled.

I sorta miss the days of exclusivity ... of when "Photographer" was reserved to the few who truly desired to be a photographer.

I guess that's where I differ then.

I'm quite lucky, when I was a kid my dad was always into photography and he did have his own darkroom at one point (before I was born) and developed his some of own shots. Though he did move to slide film a lot which he loved. So I was lucky enough to shoot some film when I was a kid and a teen. I always got rolls of film to shoot with and my dad would give me some cash to get them developed in the local store as he didn't have a darkroom. I got to use his old cameras when he moved on and got to use his old 70's Pentax SLR under careful supervision when he moved systems. I stll remember him teaching me how to focus and use the light meter in camera.

But it wasn't until I got a digital camera that I really developed an interest in it. I got a Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 P&S as a present for my birthday one year (with a sweet built in f2.8 lens, av, tv and full manual mode too. And it still takes good shots!). From there my interest developed and if it wasn't for the move to digital I probably would have never developed a real interest in photography.

Sure, there is a lot of bad out there, but there's also a lot of good. In part it's seeing the good and slowly realising that if I get some knowledge, experiment and build up my skill base there is no reason I can't create some of the wonderful images I see from other photographers.

So for me it's made good photography a real and achievable goal. Even if I'm reaching a bit at the moment