New thoughts

[james45667 <james45667@layeredlens.com>]

First, thanks to all who answered my "darkroom vs. digital" query.  I
really appreciated the
replies.  I agreed with virtually everything that was said, which,
unfortunately leaves me
unresolved, since valid points were made for both camps.

I had one realization: I was looking
at a Jerry Uelsmann image, and I suddenly realized:  for all the ease
and power of Photoshop
in one of its strongest and most widely used suits, that of compositing,
this Uelsmann image
is more powerful and affecting than virtually any digital image I can
think of.  And, in fact, I
actively dislike many digital composites because they look busy and
phony.  Uelsmann's images
look majestic and magical.  Now, does that mean I'm going to buy 11 more
enlargers?  What am
I, nuts?  It does mean that tools are tools. The most cumbersome of
methods can be made to
work, and the most facile of methods does not guarantee art or vision or
even craft.  It does not
defeat any of those things, either.  The snotty gallery owner mentioned
recently is a fool.  The
quality or value of the art has nothing to do with whether or not it's
printed on an Epson printer (well,
except for archival concerns, which were probably not primary to him.)
My guess is that there
will come a time when early archival prints (provided they are good art,
whatever that is) will become
priceless, and that same gallery owner, if he's still alive, will rue
the day he passed on them.
I'm a big fan of a talent like Uelsmann.  I'm a big digital fan.  My
computer doesn't turn me into
Uelsmann.  But NOT using a computer doesn't, either.

One more thought: I'm not a computer historian, so I don't know how long
desktop image printers have been around.  I only know my own experience.

When I bought my first computer, it was because I was going back to
school late in life and wanted to
replace the dedicated word processor I had, which was a total piece of
crap.  So, in maybe
'91 or so, I bought a little Performa, and a printer.  At the store they
pointed out that Apple was also
coming out with a color printer!  They didn't even have them in yet, but
they had a demo.  I looked at
this thing, the first digital color print I'd ever seen, and just
thought it was a joke.  I mean, it was
a toy, a gimmick, something to amuse your kids with if you had a couple
hundred more bucks you didn't need.  That wasn't ten years ago!  Now we
have serious artists and graphics pros making serious
digital prints on the desktop.  This thing is just starting!  We're just
learning how to use these
tools, these profiles, these inks, all these things, some of which
didn't even exist a few years ago.
My bet:  If you can't afford Uelsmann, buy digital.  Or, as I'm trying
to do, make your own.

James Irelan


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