Digital BW, The Print

At 01:50 PM 3/6/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>on 3/6/02 4:03 PM, Alan Zinn wrote:
>
>> Todd,
>> 
>> The more you pick at it the worse it'll get. We shouldn't be too clever in
>> inventing marketing gimmicks, names, etc. Just make the best print you can.
>> If your pictures are more interesting than a zillion other good
>> photographers nobody will care how you print them. That an ink jet print
>> isn't just like a silver print is not a point worth mentioning.  Same as a
>> gum print isn't a platinum print, isn't a cyanotype.  I have no doubt that
>> there are printers out there, maybe even on this list, who are making images
>> that will stand up to time and be considered master works of the medium.  In
>> a way our success at educating people that photography is not just
>> mechanical and a worthy craft now haunts us. How ironic.
>
>
>Alan,
>
>I can't tell if you meant to be replying to me, who posted well upstream, or
>the most recent contributor to the thread. I happen to be in agreement with
>what you say. I'll just say that when I entered the discussion we were
>talking about BW Magazine's issue with inkjet prints, which represents the
>collectors view point, and I was trying to put myself in their shoes. Most
>others have been looking at it from the standpoint of how much time or
>effort they put into a print, but I don't think many collectors even give a
>hoot whether Gursky makes his own prints, let alone how many beads of sweat
>he raises in the process. In that way you and I are in agreement, it's about
>content - well actually it's probably far from about content, it's about
>fad, fashion, celebrity, salability, being "hot", and a zillion other things
>- but it's not about how hard it is to make a print.
>
>Anyway, I could be wrong, but somebody has to play devils advocate. If I am
>wrong someone please tell my why then would BW Mag. drop inkjet prints, and
>is it something us inkjetters can address - like Mark Tucker for one, who is
>searching for ways to make each of his prints unique - or do we just do what
>we do and wait for the market to catch up? I happen to be in the camp of the
>latter, but then I'm not exactly making money selling prints, am I?
>
>Todd
>
Todd,
Sorry if I confused the thread. People forget that the market has its own
logic about value independent of what we as artists view as worth. I can't
handle the frustration myself and don't make a big deal out of selling work.
I'm delighted if I get a show and cover the cost of materials.  I concluded
long ago that what sells is never what you want to be doing and there are
easier ways of earning a living.

AZ
Maker of Lookaround panoramic camera.

www.geocities.com/soho/gallery/8874/
         or
keyword.com lookaround