jmdco Posted May 10, 2012 Share #1 Posted May 10, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) The Future of Film on PDN Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 10, 2012 Posted May 10, 2012 Hi jmdco, Take a look here The Future of Film. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
plasticman Posted May 10, 2012 Share #2 Posted May 10, 2012 Great article! Now where's Alan to pour cold water over our misguided temporary optimism? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalArts 99 Posted May 10, 2012 Share #3 Posted May 10, 2012 "Stephen Shore, who is head of the photography department at Bard College, says that a few years ago incoming students began showing up with no film or darkroom experience. More recently, during an introduction to the program he gives at the beginning of each year, when he told the students their education would be analogue until they were juniors, “spontaneously a bunch of students started clapping. There was a trend toward digital,” Shore says, “and then, starting a couple of years ago, I saw a trend toward film. ” This has been precisely my experience, too. I also teach at the college level (in an art department) and we are keeping film as part of the curriculum. It would be a disservice to students not to do so. Their education needs to be very broad, including the history of the medium and also exploring the the use of other media to supplement their own photographic production. Most all of the technical schools have dropped film altogether which is understandable as they have a different agenda. On the other hand, commercial photographers in large urban areas where creative competition is very keen, have had the advantage if they can also offer a film alternative to the agencies and their clients. Film will remain alongside digital. Neither are substitutes for each other. They are just part of the tool bag. And as the article points out, the business model of producing film and distributing it is changing in order to maintain profitability. Kodak's financial problems had little to do with film consumption. Their problem was their dependency on it (Fuji is the opposite example.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 11, 2012 Share #4 Posted May 11, 2012 Great article! Now where's Alan to pour cold water over our misguided temporary optimism? As long as that article makes you happy, I'm happy for you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 11, 2012 Share #5 Posted May 11, 2012 ",,,On the other hand, commercial photographers in large urban areas where creative competition is very keen, have had the advantage if they can also offer a film alternative to the agencies and their clients. I have known or currently know several hundred commercial photographers and all of them do offer or would be able to offer a film alternative if asked. I for one did not forget how to use a view camera and still have quite a few film cameras, lenses, filters, sheet film holders, film backs, processing gear, etc. on hand. I too could certainly shoot grainy 35mm film images if asked (although high ISO slide film is long gone.) So I am not sure where this competitive advantage comes to play for me since all of my clients stopped letting me shoot 4x5 years ago and don't request smaller film either. It seems what competitive pressure I see comes from lower priced digital photographers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalArts 99 Posted May 11, 2012 Share #6 Posted May 11, 2012 I have known or currently know several hundred commercial photographers and all of them do offer or would be able to offer a film alternative if asked. I for one did not forget how to use a view camera and still have quite a few film cameras, lenses, filters, sheet film holders, film backs, processing gear, etc. on hand. So I am not sure where this competitive advantage comes to play for me and all of my clients stopped letting me shoot 4x5 years ago. It was in context of the preceding sentence: "Most all of the technical schools have dropped film altogether which is understandable as they have a different agenda." In your case, you (and your colleagues) already have those skills. But new people are entering the work force everyday and replacing the old guard. The tech/commercial schools are all digital in their curriculum. Students coming out of current commercial programs may have never used film at all and know nothing about it. They normally start out as assistants and so the rest of their education is on the job training. But if ever eventually asked by an agency, they may miss out on an opportunity. There's a lot going on here in media (Los Angeles) and it can be quite diverse. There have been several recent ad campaigns where film capture is part of the project. It's probably a good idea to have a complete tool bag even if some of the tools are rarely going to be used. For you personally, you clearly don't need to be concerned since those tools clearly aren't needed anymore and you have the skills anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted May 11, 2012 Share #7 Posted May 11, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) It was in context of the preceding sentence: "Most all of the technical schools have dropped film altogether which is understandable as they have a different agenda." In your case, you (and your colleagues) already have those skills. But new people are entering the work force everyday and replacing the old guard. The tech/commercial schools are all digital in their curriculum. Students coming out of current commercial programs may have never used film at all and know nothing about it. They normally start out as assistants and so the rest of their education is on the job training. But if ever eventually asked by an agency, they may miss out on an opportunity. There's a lot going on here in media (Los Angeles) and it can be quite diverse. There have been several recent ad campaigns where film capture is part of the project. It's probably a good idea to have a complete tool bag even if some of the tools are rarely going to be used. For you personally, you clearly don't need to be concerned since those tools clearly aren't needed anymore and you have the skills anyway. I agree that it is good to have as many skills as possible and as much experience as you can get. If you want to parlay your investment in education in the most likely way to make a living in photography, it will not lead many to choose to spend a lot of their time mastering film, processing and printing. Although this could be a direction for some of course. When I went to photo school (RIT) back in 1970-74, mastering a view camera was considered an indispensable skill. As was b/w processing and printing of course, C printing, Cibachrome printing and even dye transfer printing were taught as requirements or highly encouraged. Plus many other technical and creative aspects of photography. This applied to both the "professional" program and the "fine art' program at that time. But as I later got to know numerous very successful photographers in various fields, I realized that many of them did not have many or any of the "skills" that I felt were the building blocks of photography. The successful one brought various insights, subject knowledge, unique visions and ideas, plus all kinds of intangibles to their work. (They often had business smarts and lots of energy too.) FWIW I started shooting and processing b/w film when I was 12 years old and taught myself from reading some books. I got an enlarger for $40 when I was 13. It wasn't very hard for me as a kid so any working photographer or student wanting to learn to do it has no excuse in my mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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