Torn by Technology

As I write this, I am sitting in an airport parking lot keyboarding into my PDA. Who'd have thought 20 years ago that we would have computing power beyond what was available then sized as something that too easily falls out of a shirt pocket.

I have watched with amazement as developments as astounding as in the computer industry have taken place in the photographic industry. One of my first jobs out of college was in a camera/electronics retailer. When the first Maxxum cameras came out, the sales staff would go through batteries like crazy demonstrating the miracle of auto-focus in an SLR. Now look where we are with hi-res digital cameras and printing equipment providing fine-art quality output from a decently equipped home office.

On the other hand, I recently stopped by one of my old favorite 'toy stores' to pick up a photo album. This retailer once-upon-a-time would be 2-3 deep waiting for sales help with medium format cameras, film sales, rentals, dark room supplies etc. Now high-end enlargers sit dusty on the clearance table and the sales staff sits around like the Maytag repairman

And therein lies the problem of technology... with our love for the new, the old technology is sought out by increasingly fewer curmudgeons seeking an ever harder to find buggy whip. One photo lab I use doesn't even sell film anymore. History shows businesses that do not adapt to new technology face a slow and certain demise.

My frustration with new technologies is that I am one of those 'stuck' on old technology. Oh, I lusted after a 4X5 camera for years, but now add a digital back to that dream. I would like nothing more than Epson's latest 24" photo printer to replace the darkroom equipment I've accumulated since high school.

Unfortunately, even as an appreciator of fine photography and an occasional participant towards such pursuits, the economic reality is that I will continue shooting film for a few years to come. Fortunately I can 'hybrid' between the analog and digital worlds through my scanner and am pleased with the results. But I miss those long evenings in the darkroom trying to wrestle a decent print from a tough negative and the success of reproducing, just so, the light and color that existed weeks earlier in the desert sun.

Now, I can accomplish much the same thing for far less cost in the well-ventilated comfort of my home office. Gone though is the inviolable darkroom solitude, replaced by the dog's paw on my leg, incoming e-mail and countless other distractions that I have yet to learn to avoid.

There are those who are more experienced in photography that look down their noses at different brands and types of film or have a preference for one type of digital chip over another. Frankly as one who does not make my living behind a lens, such distinctions are less important to me than the process of making a good photo with the equipment I have available to me. It is the pursuit of good images, then sharing them with others that brings me the joy of photography. The technical means of capturing and reproducing images is changing on an exponential scale. While I am able to evolve more slowly than the state-of-the-art, I try not to let my somewhat obsolete equipment dissuade me from the simple joys of pursuing images that capture small slices of beauty from one part of this world for sharing with those in other parts.

Torn by Technology is written by photographer and marketing guru Lincon Newey.

All above images are provided by Lincoln Newey All rights reserved.

Technorati Tags : Lincoln Newey | technology |

Posted by chad on 12:44, April 18 2005

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