Digital BW, The Print

At 03:24 PM 8/6/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>I hate to go back to Richard Kersteil - who I had for several courses at 
>the MD Instutitute.  We were discussing creative control and how 
>photography fits in to the larger world of art. What you say is true for 
>most of the art world. The discussion centered around the art world in a 
>larger society. The art world is very "fashionable." I seems to run in 
>cycles were many people are in their "blue period" just because Picasso 
>was.  There is a lot of copy cats out there - maybe good copycats but 
>still lots. In photography how many "half domes" are there. Adams has 
>already done that, why do we need it doen again unless there is 
>something new to say by doing it.
>
>The along comes a revolutionary - and the trend changes. He/she then 
>become fashionable and many copy cats arise.  Kersteil commented that he 
>hoped he was still active when the "digital revolution" hit and computer 
>technology could be used to give the photographer more control of the 
>process thus opening up new avenues for creative potential.  This was in 
>the mid '70's.
>
>It is only the "right wing" that demands that if you use anything that 
>wasn't available to Adams then you are a heretic. I would expect Adams 
>would have been one of the first to explore creative potential of 
>digital photography if it were available in his prime.
>
>Truman
>
>Alan Zinn wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Rightly or not a photograph's authenticity is judged by how well it fits a
>> formal prototype not how it came to be made. Why can't there be an 
>> authentic
>> style of digitally manipulated photographs (for the sake of argument, not
>> montages which I consider a form of drawing) that will endure the same as
>> traditional images? The highly manipulated style of A. Adams, Steichen, or
>> Eugene Smith, for example, is unquestioned yet using a computer is thought
>> to be somehow unfaithful to the craft.
>>
>> AZ
>

Truman,

I pretty much agree with you.  Just had a discussion today with a friend
about what dirty rotten dogs photographers are who don't own up to seriously
editing digitally :-)  I think it is more about personal choice than ethics
as long as some sort of journalistic fraud isn't involved or something like
that. 

AZ
Maker of Lookaround panoramic camera.
http://www.panoramacamera.us
         or
keyword.com lookaround