Digital BW, The Print

My first salvo...
-------------------------
Hello there-

I recently purchased a subscription to your magazine after hearing 
about it in the "Black & White, the Print" discussion group on Yahoo.

I am a long time wet darkroom printer and avid collector of vintage 
BW photos who recently discovered the beauty and incredible quality 
of sophisticated digital printing. Your announced policy to ban 
examples of and articles about digital printing is, in my opinion, so 
ignorant and bigoted that I simply can no longer enjoy your 
publication.

As with other luddites, the loss is yours, not mine.

Please stop sending me the magazine immediately and refund the unused 
portion of the subscription amount...this is certainly not the 
magazine I thought I was subscribing to.

Good luck...

Tom O'Connell


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Steadman Uhlich" 
<steadmanuhlich@k...> wrote:
> Good points Paul.  
> 
> I especially think the archival nature of partially toned (and 
possibly those improperly processed) prints is a key issue....but not 
for them.  
> 
> Steadman
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Paul Roark 
>   To: DigitalB&WPrint 
>   Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 5:01 PM
>   Subject: Re: [Digital BW] B&W Magazine "drops" digital prints
> 
> 
>   Steadman Uhlich wrote:
> 
>   > In his letter to readers, the editor in chief says that digital 
prints do
>   not have the tradition, heritage, and well....some other 
qualities he thinks
>   important for collectors...given that they are made by "machine" 
and not in
>   a traditional manner.  So...from now on...this mag will not have 
any
>   articles or feature any discussion of digital prints.
> 
>   It seems to me there are a couple of approaches that warrant 
letters to the
>   magazine that will get them into more of a corner.
> 
>   For example, I'd want to know if silver prints that went through 
a digital
>   step are covered.  For example, what of the Lens Work type images.
> 
>   Next, I'd want to know how collectors or the magazine can tell if 
there was
>   a digital step if the process.  Can they really police the 
policy?  Do they
>   have affidavits from all their advertisers and the photographers 
and others
>   whose photos are published?
> 
>   I wonder what the other attributes of digital are that are of 
concern?
>   Maybe they could be specific.
> 
>   If longevity and light fastness is one factor, how do they know 
that the
>   photos that are featured and advertised are properly processed?  
If they are
>   not the carbon pigments on good paper is probably more archival.
> 
>   In fact, if the partial toning that we silver printers were 
doing, it turns
>   out that the images are not really that archival.  I think I'll 
be able to
>   measure the yellowing of  partially-toned silver prints.  It may 
be low, but
>   I hope to match it -- in fact non-warming paper (no brighteners) 
may do it
>   already.
> 
>   We must confess that the easy of making many copies is a problem 
for any
>   machine print.  Collectors want an object that cannot be made in 
quantity.
>   How one raises prices, all else being equal, is to limit output.  
From an
>   economics perspective, the control that a monopolist has is 
limiting output.
>   It is only from that action that prices rise.  So, out put 
limitations is a
>   key to collectible value.  But, how many prints to A. 
Adams "make?"  I think
>   over 80,000, but this is hearsay.
> 
>   So, there are issues we can work with here.  If the magazines' 
policy
>   becomes self-defeating, they'll change.
> 
>   Paul
>   http://www.PaulRoark.com
> 
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