Will everything old be one day new again? I have my doubts.
An article on the 2018 trends in photography I found on the Adorama Learning Center suggests 2018 will see the return of Kodachrome film. Click here for a link to the article.
This morning I was talking to a fellow professional photographer. He is in the market for a new printer for his business. We were talking about some of the features on the new printers. He told me one of the printers has a built in feature that analyzes your file and if the colour profile is off a bit, it will adjust it. This means you don’t have to be as concerned whether your computer monitor is profiled accurately.
The price of “user friendly”
It seems with every development today, the emphasis is on making it easier to use. (Translation – you don’t need to think.) In the age of artificial intelligence and IT (internet technology) we have substituted “user friendly” upgrades for ones of better quality or service.
I remember a period of analogue photography when special effects were the “in thing.” Brides and grooms would be superimposed into a wine glass, or their first dance photos would be superimposed over a sheet of music (you just hoped they chose a song the lab had the music for). Yes I did these. I stopped when they started showing the bride turning on a television and the groom’s head was super-imposed on the TV screen. That went a bit overboard. At a convention the speaker asked a room full of photographers how many used these special effects. Then he commented to all those with their hands up “have you ever thought that if you had to use special effects to sell your photography that their just might me something wrong with your photography.”
A printer that adjusts your files if the colour profile is a little off might be alright if all your images are cookie cutter standard, but how does that serve the artist that considers each image a statement about the subject?
Now I should clarify that we were not talking about the printers that you buy at Staples or Best Buy. We were discussing wide body printers that after you load enough ink to run a few test prints has a starting price of upwards of five thousand dollars.
Being an artist is knowing when to stop
Both my friend and I have heard the question “why does a print cost so much?” Well it’s not like going to Zehrs and putting your thumb stick in the machine and deciding whether you want a 4×6 or a 5×7. (The local Zehrs is getting rid of their printers by the way) Once we go through multiple stages of image enhancements (commonly called retouching or Photo-Shopping), making sure the colour balance saturation, and contrast are all ok we consider the final outcome. Will it be used on the internet, printed on photo paper and which one, or on a fine art fibre archival paper. The ink acts differently with each paper type so there are separate profiles for each printer and ink type on every different paper. Adjustments are made to duplicate the final output and display, tests prints run, more adjustments, and finally the client’s portrait is printed.
So would it be easier to let the printer make the adjustments? Sure it would. But how much quality are you willing to lose in order to be “user friendly.” The difference is a button pusher verses an artiste.
I believe Kodachrome will come back but will have a very niche market of photographic maestros that know and appreciate the difference between a “see sharp” and a “see flat.” But will everything old become new again? No! Because user friendly outweighs craftsmanship in too many minds today.
As for me, I will continue to push myself to produce fine art portraits on archival gallery paper and bring those images to life with varnish and glazing in pursuit of the excellence of the old masters.
