Digital BW, The Print

Keith,

> And, as the photo is axiomatically an abstraction,

Which I disagree with, by the definition of "abstract" that I believe is
appropriate for this discussion.  Yes, I understand that you could zealously
apply, what I consider, a differing definition of "abstract" to any topic,
and claim as you do...but abstract in the ART sense is entirely different
than the one you are using.  Not all art is considered "abstract", if it
was, then why is some of it in fact called "abstract", because if your
definition applied, that titling would be redundant.  As a previous post
outlined, there are differing definitions of abstract, and as I said, I
believe your definition is inappropriate for a discussion of photography,
which is, after all, considered art for all intents and purposes of our
discussion...though not all photography IS art in my book.  Most do not
considers an accurate photograph an abstraction, but photography can be used
to create an abstraction...just like all paintings are not considered
"abstract".

This clearly outlines what abstraction is:

http://www.nga.gov/education/american/abstract.htm

To quote:

"Painters and sculptors do not always strive to depict persons and objects
realistically. Rather than imitate their subject's natural appearance, some
artists deliberately change it. They stretch or bend forms, break up shapes,
and give objects unlikely textures or colors. Artists make these
transformations in an effort to communicate something they cannot convey
through realistic treatment. Works of art that reframe nature for expressive
effect are called abstract."

That says it in a nutshell, and follows exactly what I've been saying.
Photography that is realistic in nature is NOT abstraction.

> there is no LOGICAL
> reason why a PhotoShopped image is a more or less accurate mediated
> representation of reality than is one that was not altered via digital
> methods..

Of course a PS'd image CAN be a VERY inaccurate representation, it's the
nature of the tool!

> By Austin's own arguments, the final output from PhotoShop and digital
> printing could well be more accurate representations of reality than
> could a traditional silver print..

It depends on what you do in PS.  You CAN use it to do as you suggest, but
then again, you can also make it be very divergent.

Austin