Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/06/21

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] RE: While it is happening
From: lowiemanuel at yahoo.ca (Emanuel Lowi)
Date: Mon Jun 21 12:18:30 2004

Just as the change in technology from cuneiform
pressed into wet clay, to carved stone, to ink on
papyrus, then vellum, then cheap pressed wood-fibre --
and now zapped in an instant as electrons to bluish
screens around the world -- popularized writing to the
point where today any halfwit can produce what appears
(from some distance) to be a worthwhile tome, so
photography is transformed by this digital revolution
we 2004 Leicaists mournfully witness.

There are far more writers today than, say, in 1500
B.C. when alphabetic writing was just catching on and
the technology cumbersome. There has been a
concomitant increase in the percentage of people who
write things others find worthwhile to read. Give a
jungle-full of monkeys a shitload of typewriters and
they'll eventually write something interesting, even
if it ain't Shakespeare, eh?.

Making photos seems to be becoming less intimidating,
and involves less commitment, in this digital
revolution. No film to run out of -- so shoot away!
Got a lousy shot you want no one to ever see?
Button-press it on the spot, into oblivion. 

In time, perhaps a greater proportion of ordinary
folks will make better photos. But I wonder whether
the new technology really makes a big difference that
way for those of us who are committed shooters
already. We have our habits born in film and I'm not
certain that digital's luxuries will prove a boon to
us guerrilla baboons.

Given that Leica in 1925 played a key role in getting
good cameras into the hands of the people, one can
only hope -- for the sake of traditional nostalgia, if
nothing else -- that Leica sticks around for the
digital ride. 

I still think stone carvers are cool, I only wish
there were more of them out there, not just at the
graveyard.

Emanuel Lowi
Montreal  

______________________________________________________________________ 
Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca

Replies: Reply from bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] RE: While it is happening)
Reply from daniel.ridings at muspro.uio.no (Daniel Ridings) ([Leica] RE: While it is happening)