Digital BW, The Print

on 10/14/01 12:23 AM, Mark Tucker wrote:

> I'm just shocked that more people aren't concerned with
> this issue.

Mark 

All of us are as concerned with this as you are, perhaps we've just been
discussing it longer, and have made our peace with it by now.

How ya gonna know what's best? There are just too many variables at play,
and many of these products haven't been on the market long enough to have
yielded meaningful records yet.

I could list products in descending order of how long I expect them to last,
but I won't because I'm likely to be wrong, and it's a disservice to those
products my guesses underestimate. You should be leery of all estimates of
life expectancy because they are all based upon tests over a very limited
period of time and environmental conditions. Yes that sounds like that
implies that they are fugitive, but who knows, we may find some of these
inkjet prints will outlive silver in the long run! It's possible.

I think one has to be willing to approach this with it's uncertainty, or not
take it on at all. You have to be willing to make and sell an inkjet print
the same way an artist is willing to make and sell a water color; they know
it's fragile, but it gives their work a character that they can't get with
oils. So even though it might not last as long as an oil painting, they do
it anyway, because it's wonderful for what it IS.

That said, my integrity tells me to use the materials I guess will last the
longest, while still allowing me to work in a medium I enjoy. My guess is
that the carbon quads fit that bill for me, but that is not an endorsement,
as your guess is as good as mine.

Sorry I can't offer you more comfort. It's kinda like current affairs: there
is the possibility of imminent threat, but you're best served by carrying on
with a sense of normalcy. That may sound weak, risky, and ironic, but so is
modernity, so is life.

Maybe Martin's didn't go far enough; if you want the longest life span, you
should do platinum prints.

But is longevity really the end all?

Todd