P.S. Am I Crazy For Building a Darkroom In the Spectre of Digital Mania?

For starters, I want to say "HOORAY" and "Kudos" to us so-called Analog
photographers. The more you learn about the Wet Darkroom the better you will
feel about being a part of the Traditional Photographic Art Form. I kind of
like the idea of being part of the old world of photography. It plays into my
fantasy of being part of the last century of Photography. As a Wet Darkroom
Photographer, you will sit among the great photographers; Irving Penn, Richard
Avedon, David Bailey Ansel Adams, etc. There will come a day when your WET
Darkroom Skills will be a lost Art Form. So why do we need to defend the notion
that the Wet Darkroom is an antiquated Art Form?



Answer: Speed & Convenience!



There is a real advantage when dealing with the ease and convenience of Digital
Photography. If you use Digital Photography for commercial use, you are
abandoning the Wet Darkroom; You are using the Digital Darkroom for the purpose
of making Money. A Commercial Photog is going to be more productive when using
Digital Cameras and Laptop/Printer Darkrooms than a traditional Photographer. I
am starting to see a lot more competition in the commercial photography arena.
While perusing through www.craigslist.com I couldn't help noticing the ads for
$350.00, $150.00, and $60.00 Headshots. OUCH!!! That is a Reality Slap for us
1500.00, $1000.00, and $500.00 Traditional Headshot Film Photographers. The
majority of the (Less than $500.00 Photogs) are Digital Photographers.



Minimal to zero Labs Costs, No Film, and immediate turnaround Time for Prints.
Digital Cams are great for getting Images on Websites.



There is no way I could replace my Wet Darkroom with a Digital Camera other than
to make a living with Digital Imaging. I prefer to digitize my Negatives and
Chromes (Slides). There is a good use for Digital Imaging Technology; however
nothing can replace the feeling of the Wet Darkroom. For those who can not
appreciate the creative process of the Wet Darkroom, they will never know what
they are truly missing out on.



What can replace the feeling of seeing your creation come out of a Film
Developing Tanks or see your Prints come up in the Developer tray? The Digital
Cam is just too sterile for me. The Space Age has finally caught up with
Photography.





"nicholas" wrote in message
...
| Lloyd Erlick wrote:
| On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 00:00:07 GMT, "Pieter
| Litchfield" wrote:
|
| ... every bit as important and legitimate a means
| of
|
| self expression as is
|
| ...
|
|
| feb2004 from Lloyd Elick,
|
| I've seen people (at drunken artist parties I'll
| admit...) passionately defending or attacking
| materials and techniques. It's difficult to
| distinguish between discussions of FB-RC,
| analog-digital, and oil-acrylic. Oil-acrylic is a
| heavy issue...
|
| I certainly agree about the pleasures of the wet
| darkroom. I don't find computer printing attactive
| at all. I plan to be the last living portraitist
| using silver and lenses in a darkroom.
|
| regards,
| --le
|
| regards,
| --le
| ________________________________
| Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
| 2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
| Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
| ---
| voice 416-686-0326
| lloyd AT the-wire DOT com
| http://www.heylloyd.com
| ________________________________
| Hey there Lloyd, and everyone else, I am an artist and you know it
| sounds strange that you love the darkroom as much as you say you do - to
| me.
| I also, work in that environment, but I do find it frustrating. For
| instance, I have to print up an exhibition in my house (rented) which I
| am leaving. The reason I am here is because my darkroom which I lovingly
| crafted has to be dismantled (acid free, double 20x16in twin Nova setup,
| by the way). Needless to say, my partner is in another part of the
| country. The reason for this is that I have a show to print up from my
| recent visit to the States (from New Zealand) where I got to spend two
| weeks in NY (visiting art galleries) as well as spending time with the
| amazing photo pioneer P. Gainer. Went to several different parts of the
| States as well and loved it!!!
| Right now, I can't bring myself to go in there...
| Today was not productive, but normally I usually have to work myself
| into going in there for work anyways... Experiments are fine, because
| thats kind of fun and interesting. But now as a semi-prof b&w photog
| (for 4 years, exhibiting in a dealer gallery for 8, a couple of public
| galery shows...) I find it more and more difficult to get in there and
| _work_ . Yes, I am lazy by nature. But I find darkroom work quite
| exhausting -- even when it doesn't smell :-)).
| However I fully understand the people above who use darkrooms as a way
| of creating in an analogue environment and find that enjoyable. At the
| same time I can't think of anything else which I'd rather be doing (in
| theory anyway) which is a very strange anomoly. Maybe, just lazy I
| suppose...