Embers

Small Winter Day

I am experiencing a transition which is both startling and sad.

Startling because I would never have believed I could enjoy the process of digital photography, but these last few weeks it is that process which has been making my life seem vital again.

And sad because my mind is continually meshing ideas of film and digital, and film always takes a beating. I am admitting to myself that film is dying a slow death, a cancer patient awaiting the inevitable.

I remember writing once that digital pictures were too easy to make, thus making the process a banality. Watching a legion of film photographers move to digital is like watching the worlds chess grandmasters change to checkers.

Last night I realized I was correct in thinking this, but, correct in the sense of using digital to copy the old style of film photographs. Anyone can easily make a 1950's b/w masterpiece in photoshop, but the digital artists of today are going beyond that, way beyond. Photography is advancing in a strong way because of the digital revolution. This is good, and I have decided to join in the fun.

So, today I ran to Better Image with a digital photo file in my pocket. I decided it is time to see what these screen creations look like on paper.

Better Image struck me as that dying cancer patient - film shelves empty and dusty, the store a run down shell of what it once was 10 years ago. Now just a few computers and a lone employee lurked in the gray shadows of a quiet and empty shop.

I handed off my file, and will pick it up tomorrow, wondering if my screen pieces will look garish and pixellated on paper. It is ok if they do, I can keep working, learning, and one day will figure out how to transfer these illusory pieces into the physical world.

Max Richter :