Digital BW, The Print

At 10:05 AM 3/23/2002 -0600, you wrote:
>Mike, 
>
>Well...from one "firnd" to another....
>
>My post was not a criticism of silver or platinum or crayons.  My  post
simply pointed out that seeing the unique qualities of Piezo may take some
adjustment because of biases that already exist with many people.  The same
bias is seen when speaking of painting on canvas....and one person uses
acrylics and another has only used oils.  They both can produce beautiful
art....but getting the "old time" oil painter to use (or see the beauty of
an acrylic painting) is hard to do.....they often don't get past the use of
a different "paint" and criticize it instead of looking at the art (image)
itself.   
>
>Seeing the inherent qualities of any medium takes a little "growth" on the
part of the viewer.  Unfortunately, some folks expect every new medium to
have all the benefits of the old without any weaknesses....or even more
benefits...without any weaknesses (or simple differences).  Of course it
also sometimes difficult to teach an old dog new tricks too. 
>
>That was/is my point.  (wINK) 
>
>I personally find masterfully made tempera, watercolor, and pastel
paintings much more beautiful than any silver, platinum or palladium print
(though I like some of those too).  I also admire the ability of someone
like Gil Dellinger (master pastellist) who can take a piece of "chalk"
(actually pure pigments) and make an image by hand that will "glow" with the
light of a Pacific sunset.  So I have my biases (preferences) too.
>
>With Respect,
>Your firnd, 
>Steadman
>
>Mike wrote: (SNIP)
>
>"Just my thoughts my firnd.
>
>Mike"
>

Guys,

Each medium has its own craft and material qualities and it isn't much use
to cross-compare them.  It is more useful to compare how each artist masters
the craft. 

One only has to think about the print qualities of HCB, Frank, and Wm Klein
to understand the limits to over-valuing or error of mis-placed criticism of
craft. While, lacking high crafting, Kenna and Sexton prints would look like
crap. 

The craft of photography has traditionally been to acquire the greatest
amount of information on the film and translate that to the print.
Allowances are made for the film format, the print medium, and the
circumstances of the image. Given all that, shortcomings in craft for any
given picture is important only when it gets in the way of the intention of
the artist, pictorial style, presentation mode, and probably several other
factors.  

AZ
Maker of Lookaround panoramic camera.

http://lookaroundcam.com/
         or
keyword.com lookaround