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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / April 2005

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Real feelings about fake images

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Terry Davis - 10 Apr 2005 04:44 GMT
For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
past 15 years.

The only print manipulation I perform is selective dodging, burning, and
cropping.

It seems that lately some viewers  are questioning the "reality" of my
work. I am often asked; "Oh, did you create that image in Photoshop?".

My images are true to life....just as I saw them with my own eyes at the
time of exposure. I get upset when viewers suspect that my work is "made
up" or is "not real".

I am beginning to lose the excitement and joy that my photography has
given me over the years.   I just do not feel inspired to  seek out
great scenes to photograph when it is now possible to just create an
artifical scene on a computer.

Does anyone else feel this way...or am I just too sensitive for my own
good?

Terry
Ehud Yaniv - 10 Apr 2005 07:10 GMT
>For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
>b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
>Terry

In the end, no photo is "real" due to optics and film characteristics.
That is to say, depth of field, angle of view, selective focus, and
etc. for the optics.  Light sensitivity, grain, sharpness and
resolution for film.

Burning and dodging change the way a photo is perceived.  They can
change the point of interest or focus of a picture.

These techniques allow you to have your vision and create the reality
you see which is not, however, always what was in front of the lens.

Don't be offended if people think your photos have been photoshopped.
Just smile and suggest that you hope that technology catches up to the
quality of a good, handmade photograph.

Ehud
still-light.com
Jan T - 13 Apr 2005 18:54 GMT
| >For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
| >b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
| etc. for the optics.  Light sensitivity, grain, sharpness and
| resolution for film.

That is not the reality it is about, I'd say.
Roland Barthes (France, philosopher) wrote a very nice book on photography
(1980?, befor digital got into the hands of the common man) where he stated
that photography stands or falls with this criterium: "It was there". Hence
digital manipulation or image creation or whatever it's called is _not_
photography (although it can be art in the hands of an artist).

I share Terry's feelings, but I keep my head up, thinking "what do they
know?" If you can't appreciate it, well so be it. Others will.

| Burning and dodging change the way a photo is perceived.  They can
| change the point of interest or focus of a picture.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
| Ehud
| still-light.com
Travis Porco - 13 Apr 2005 23:53 GMT
>"Ehud Yaniv" <eyaniv@telus.n.e.t.> schreef in bericht

>| In the end, no photo is "real" due to optics and film characteristics.
>| That is to say, depth of field, angle of view, selective focus, and
>| etc. for the optics.  Light sensitivity, grain, sharpness and
>| resolution for film.

>That is not the reality it is about, I'd say.
>Roland Barthes (France, philosopher) wrote a very nice book on photography
>(1980?, befor digital got into the hands of the common man) where he stated
>that photography stands or falls with this criterium: "It was there". Hence
>digital manipulation or image creation or whatever it's called is _not_
>photography (although it can be art in the hands of an artist).

Interesting. There's something to that distinction. No one would
claim that the producers of _Jurassic_Park_ photographed a dinosaur.
They created an image designed to look like a photograph of a
dinosaur.  

This criterion actually crosses the digital/silver line. If I take
an image of me on the Golden Gate Bridge with a silver-based camera
or a silicon-based camera, then both are photographs of me. Then,
suppose I get a photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge and add an
image of Charles Darwin to it, whether by darkroom alchemy or digital
algorithms. I could try to sell it as a 'trick' photograph or a
special effect, but would seem wrong to sell it as a "photograph of
Darwin on the Golden Gate Bridge"--since *he was not there*.  

To take a sillier example, NASA has an 'art train' where they go
around and show off space exploration art they commissioned over the
last few decades, and they have a setup that can splice a picture of
you into a lunar scene. Everyone says, "wow, it looks like we're on
the moon", or something similar. But it's unnatural to say that they
produced a photograph of "us on the moon".

So that criterion certainly captures something of how the word
and concept of photography are used.

Digital makes it easier to create images that look like photographs of
things that weren't there.  In essence, it makes certain special
effects easier.
Gregory Blank - 14 Apr 2005 00:11 GMT
> If I take
> an image of me on the Golden Gate Bridge with a silver-based camera
> or a silicon-based camera, then both are photographs of me.

Not according to some.

> but would seem wrong to sell it as a "photograph of
> Darwin on the Golden Gate Bridge"--since *he was not there*.  

Why?  Since its obviously a fake representation of time. Unless someone
is naive enough not to know him and his circumstances I doubt
anyone would buy the image. That is unless they had the desire to have
such an image for some illustrative point.

> To take a sillier example, NASA has an 'art train' where they go
> around and show off space exploration art they commissioned over the
> last few decades, and they have a setup that can splice a picture of
> you into a lunar scene. Everyone says, "wow, it looks like we're on
> the moon", or something similar. But it's unnatural to say that they
> produced a photograph of "us on the moon".

There was a movie about the fake moon landing, some people
believe that is the truth,...just like Roswell.

> So that criterion certainly captures something of how the word
> and concept of photography are used.

> Digital makes it easier to create images that look like photographs of
> things that weren't there.  In essence, it makes certain special
> effects easier.

Wrong thought process, the photographer,....or imagist does it
not the magic box that captures the "seen-scene" stuff.
If you set up a film camera to document the happenings of a place
and a digital camera to do so, you still have more or less exciting
images.

Signature

LF Website @ http://members.verizon.net/~gregoryblank

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

J.Scheimpflug - 14 Apr 2005 01:56 GMT
> That is not the reality it is about, I'd say.
> Roland Barthes (France, philosopher) wrote a very nice book on photography
> (1980?, befor digital got into the hands of the common man) where he
> stated
> that photography stands or falls with this criterium: "It was there".

True! And that should be the very end of this thread.

Of course, the fundamentally argumentative type will dive into their own
foolish vanity to extend the thread until is a ghost of fibre.
jjs - 10 Apr 2005 14:02 GMT
> For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
> b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> It seems that lately some viewers  are questioning the "reality" of my
> work. I am often asked; "Oh, did you create that image in Photoshop?".

I was astonished the first time a sophisticated person published one of my
photos calling it a "Merged, maniuplated print." It was a straight,
conventional print.

> My images are true to life....just as I saw them with my own eyes at the
> time of exposure. I get upset when viewers suspect that my work is "made
> up" or is "not real".

Consider it a sign of the times and be encouraged rather than discouraged.
When interests drift into what's genuine and what is not, you will have
evidence for the former.
dr bob - 10 Apr 2005 14:22 GMT
> For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
> b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Terry

No!  I feel just the opposite.  I am inspired to produce even better
traditional prints especially as my last few prints were sold to individual
collectors searching for non-electronic photographs.

Truly, dr bob.
Pieter Litchfield - 10 Apr 2005 15:31 GMT
I'll agree with this (bottom) poster.  I have spent the last 30 years of my
life working with information systems, and quite a few with digital image
manipulation techniques - usually "making art" or wallpaper for websites,
not manipulating images.  I really dislike working with images in a digital
darkroom.  Not that it's "immoral" or "not real art" or anything, I just
don't like those tools anymore than I like to cook with a blowtorch.  I love
the challenges and opportunities posed by the limitations of a chemical
developing process, and as long as there is B&W film, I'll do the chemical
darkroom.

I think the rub is that non-photographers don't seem to appreciate the work
that goes into making a good straight print, and tend to view the artist's
talent exclusively as a function of the complexity of the image.  The more
complex and manipulated, the better the artist.  I wonder how they would
feel about Ansel Adams who labored mightily over his "straight" landscapes.
While to the casual eye they may appear essentially unmanipulated, his
abilities to eventually find his way to the print he intended and his
ability to frame the image at the right moment make him one of the truly
great artists.  But I wonder if he will still be appreciated when we are a
few generations removed from the film camera?

The ease of digital imaging does not appeal to me, and frankly that's all
that should matter.  I tend to print full frame 35mm, 4x5, and panoramics on
the theory that I should include all (and only) the necessary information in
the frame when I trip the shutter.  I work at filtration and exposure to
capture the image I have in mind.  I manipulate the print to get to that
image too.  For me photography is about challenging myself.  If I did it for
money, I'd have to go digital to compete.  But I can waste countless sheets
of paper, rolls of film, and hours of labor, ultimately producing 1 good
print just because I have learned something from the experience and just
because I know that those who have spent time in a darkroom will appreciate
the effort as much as I appreciate their efforts.

I have a professional (maybe ex-professional now) photogapher friend who
will no longer look at B&W photo magazines because (in his words) "all the
worthy pictures have already been taken."  To carry this bizarre notion into
the digital world, we should no bother to take any pictures because if it
hasn't been shot yet, (or we missed an historic picture opportunity), we
could just fabricate what we imagine it was like digitally.  We "filmers"
have the satisfaction of knowing we have the skill and the luck to be in the
right place at the right time to capture in an image a tiny slice of reality
rather than (potentially) fabricate it out of thin air.  That makes me want
to work harder at my craft.

I do label all my prints with the camera, film, and paper to be sure that
the viewer has the ability to understand that this print resulted from a
chemical rather than digital process.

>> For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
>> b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Truly, dr bob.
jjs - 10 Apr 2005 16:10 GMT
> [...]
> I have a professional (maybe ex-professional now) photogapher friend who
> will no longer look at B&W photo magazines because (in his words) "all the
> worthy pictures have already been taken."

The same is said of poetry. From a some poets, publishers and academics in
the field I hear "there are so many good poets today compared to..." and
"all the poetic words that can be written have been", but the same people
admits that poetry continues to speak to it's mature self and to find new
audiences. I guess we need a Digital Poet Shop to truly rile them up.

> To carry this bizarre notion into the digital world, we should no bother
> to take any pictures because if it hasn't been shot yet, (or we missed an
> historic picture opportunity), we could just fabricate what we imagine it
> was like digitally. [...]

Bizarre is correct.  Some of the most important photography is the humble
work of documentarians who are not trying to make an 'individual statement'
to draw attention to themselves, but to make pictures which regard The Thing
Itself.
Travis Porco - 12 Apr 2005 03:20 GMT
>> [...]
>> I have a professional (maybe ex-professional now) photogapher friend who
>> will no longer look at B&W photo magazines because (in his words) "all the
>> worthy pictures have already been taken."

>The same is said of poetry. From a some poets, publishers and academics in
>the field I hear "there are so many good poets today compared to..." and
>"all the poetic words that can be written have been", but the same people
>admits that poetry continues to speak to it's mature self and to find new
>audiences. I guess we need a Digital Poet Shop to truly rile them up.

In some ways it's a function of what people are willing to consider "different"
or "similar".  And the same kind of objection comes up in practically any
discussion of any art; you can find similar laments in the world of say
science fiction, or mystery stories, or rock music criticism. Nobody wants to
write certain stories,
say, because a similar theme was already addressed by someone else, and people
don't want it said that they ripped off the idea, or be compared to their
predecessor, etc.  So thousands of great stories are never written, and that's
too bad.

Now I've taken plenty of more or less spontaneous nature shots in
local parks (not that I've achieved real skill yet--or more accurately
I have not made a photograph that I am satisfied with yet). And you could go
through books of nature photography and find something more or less similar
to each photograph I've taken. Not identical of course, but similar:
there are photographs waiting to be taken, and anyone else who has come upon
a similar place with a camera will take a similar picture.
The pictures I've taken are not copies of anything, but they are
also not original.  If I craved originality I'd need to have an encyclopedic
knowledge of what has been done, and time and determination to do something
otherwise. And there'd be nothing wrong with that, and if I were a
professional artist that would be my duty (and there would be nothing
wrong with it!). On the other hand,
I believe excessive obsession with finding similarities of various sorts and
criticizing new photographs on such grounds is somewhat decadent. Doing
something completely new is only one of the wonderful things to attempt.

Could anything possibly be less original than taking a straight photograph of
the Golden Gate bridge off the Marin Headlands? But if you're some place like
that, how can you not take
such a photograph, at least once?  Doesn't every new quality shot of it reveal
at least something about it, as the light, seasons, and bay change?  
So, I can't speak for the market for professional artists, and for professional
photographers. I *do* know "all the good photographs" have certainly not
been taken. As an amateur I have the freedom to photograph anything I like,
since no claim of wild novelty, or even moderate novelty at all, is at stake.  
There is nothing at all at
stake, except whether I like the photograph. I feel that if I adhere to some
conventions of quality and work hard to improve, and to learn to do an
excellent job, I am participating constructively in photography. Precisely
because what I do is not socially or monetarily important, I can have the
enjoyment of photographing anything. I can even try to photograph the Half
Dome in Yosemite, in black and white no less, to see what I can see there.
I can't imagine the burden of trying to do that as a professional, knowing
who you would be compared to. Though even that has been done, too.

So we can discuss how different a photo has to be from other photos someone
can remember before it is considered 'original'. There are interesting
issues of perception and cognitive psychology involved.  And we could discuss
the issues professionals have in selling photos of things others have
photographed.
But I can't imagine that "all the great photos" have been taken--not until
every spot has been photographed round the clock under all conditions at all
depths of field, at all zooms, night and day, rain or shine (or rain and
shine), time exposures and high-speed exposures, infrared and ultraviolet, etc.
etc.
I once had to write ten pages describing a candle flame (an old-fashioned
science lab thing), and that convinced me that there's a *lot* to see if you
look, and therefore a *lot* to photograph if you work. It may take the rest
of my life, or never, before I can make others see it too (i.e., be a good
photographer). Perhaps there is no need for us beginners, or anyone else,
to be discouraged by such cynicism.

my strictly amateur 2 cents.
Philip Homburg - 12 Apr 2005 10:02 GMT
>Could anything possibly be less original than taking a straight photograph of
>the Golden Gate bridge off the Marin Headlands? But if you're some place like
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>been taken. As an amateur I have the freedom to photograph anything I like,
>since no claim of wild novelty, or even moderate novelty at all, is at stake.  

I think the main thing is to consider the target audience. An amateur
may take pictures just because he likes the process. An artist may create
works just to express an idea. As long as you take pictures to please
yourself there is no reason to take work of other people into account.

When you show pictures to other people, you have to take their interests
into account. A tourist who takes the 'standard picture' may show it to
relatives and friends who have never seen pictures of that place before.
Even a local art market may be small enough that potential buyers have
not seen similar works by other people.

At a global scale it may be harder to come up with something new. But in
many cases, there are so many degrees of freedom in photography, that
if you really have something to say, you will end up with a different
picture.

Signature

That was it. Done. The faulty Monk was turned out into the desert where it
could believe what it liked, including the idea that it had been hard done
by. It was allowed to keep its horse, since horses were so cheap to make.
    -- Douglas Adams in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Pieter Litchfield - 12 Apr 2005 13:38 GMT
I think that setting out to imitate an existing artist's work because it
might appeal to a specific audience is not "art" per se.

I have seen almost exact recent reproductions of some of Ansel Adams' most
popular (and spectacular) landscapes.  For me the question is "why were they
done?"

Two cases:  If they were taken by a photographer who was completely ignorant
of AA's work and who simply came to a perfect vantage point on a trail to
take a dramatic landscape that moved him/her, then I think that artist was
moved by a truly artistic creative spirit.  However, if that same person in
the same place knew of AA's specific photo and tried to duplicate it because
he/she wanted something saleable for the craft fair, then I think that is
not creative nor is it art.  Paradoxically, both took the exact same
picture, so how are they different?  The difference (to me) is in the
motivation.  If you the artist are moved to create, that is "art" in its
purest form.  If you need a commodity to sell, so you imitate art, that is
something else.  I guess that is why some few artists are commercially
successful - they are not creating with a audience in mind.  Hopefully
someone of similar tastes will like their art, but that's not the moving
force behind creating it.  It could be real crap to the rest of us - "art"
is truly in the mind of the creator.

So when my photographer friend refuses to look at magazines because "all the
good pictures are already taken", in part he is doing it because he will
find pictures he wants to take.  If he sees them in a magazine before he
takes them himself, and consciously or unconsciously imitates them, he will
not be an artist (but he might be a commercial success).

<SNIP>
> I think the main thing is to consider the target audience. An amateur
> may take pictures just because he likes the process. An artist may create
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> if you really have something to say, you will end up with a different
> picture.
Philip Homburg - 13 Apr 2005 11:25 GMT
>If you the artist are moved to create, that is "art" in its
>purest form.  If you need a commodity to sell, so you imitate art, that is
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>force behind creating it.  It could be real crap to the rest of us - "art"
>is truly in the mind of the creator.

If you want to make a living, the market is probably more important than
whether or not something is art.

>So when my photographer friend refuses to look at magazines because "all the
>good pictures are already taken", in part he is doing it because he will
>find pictures he wants to take.  If he sees them in a magazine before he
>takes them himself, and consciously or unconsciously imitates them, he will
>not be an artist (but he might be a commercial success).

That doesn't sound like a smart strategy. The trick is to find things you
don't like in other people's pictures and try to take pictures that are in
some sense better.

Not knowing what other people have done may help initially to think about
things. But at some point you learn much more quickly by studying other
people's work than by trying to re-discover what they discovered a long
time ago.

Signature

That was it. Done. The faulty Monk was turned out into the desert where it
could believe what it liked, including the idea that it had been hard done
by. It was allowed to keep its horse, since horses were so cheap to make.
    -- Douglas Adams in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Lloyd Erlick - 12 Apr 2005 18:46 GMT
... there is no need for ... beginners, or anyone else, to be
discouraged by ... cynicism.

apr1205 from Lloyd Erlick,

Indeed, this is exactly true.

It could probably be argued that all of Ansel Adams' works were
essentially the same. Julia Margaret Cameron repeated the same
portrait over and over. (No doubt this applies to me, too...). Karsh,
Rembranbdt, van Gogh, why bother?

But what of it? I make portraits so I can see what someone looks like
at a given moment, and I like to continue making portraits of the same
people so I can see their development, or deterioration, over time.
I'm not the first, and I never said I was, and I never cared to be.
The argument  could be stated, 'any breath is like the one before, why
continue breathing?' Because others have done the same or similar is a
ridiculous argument for giving something up.

regards,
--le
Signature

________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: portrait@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________

Chris Swift - 10 Apr 2005 15:52 GMT
It's a very frustrating attitude to have to deal with. People who have to
ask if an image has been Photoshopped, to me, don't understand much about
photography and aren't worth engaging in conversation about anything photo-
related.

My answer to the question as to whether one of my images has been PSed is,
"Who cares?" If it is indeed the questioner who does care, thank them for
their time and walk away.

Christopher Swift
www.hotchilistudios.com
Wayne - 10 Apr 2005 16:10 GMT
> It's a very frustrating attitude to have to deal with. People who have to
> ask if an image has been Photoshopped, to me, don't understand much about
> photography and aren't worth engaging in conversation about anything photo-
> related.

Rofl! Is that an MS or Ph.D in condescension you have there?

Wayne
Mark Lauter - 11 Apr 2005 17:02 GMT
> It's a very frustrating attitude to have to deal with. People who have to
> ask if an image has been Photoshopped, to me, don't understand much about
> photography and aren't worth engaging in conversation about anything photo-
> related.

Anyone is worth engaging in conversation - consider it our mission to
educate them. ;)

> My answer to the question as to whether one of my images has been PSed is,
> "Who cares?" If it is indeed the questioner who does care, thank them for
> their time and walk away.

My response is always, "How does it make you feel?"

Signature

Mark Lauter

Photos, Ideas & Opinions
http://www.marklauter.com

Nicholas O. Lindan - 12 Apr 2005 14:50 GMT
> My response is always, "How does it make you feel?"

Seems to me the phenomenon under discussion could be better
titled:

  "Fake feelings about real images?"

Signature

Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix  . netcom . com
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/

Pieter Litchfield - 12 Apr 2005 16:42 GMT
Excellent response!  Agree wholeheartedly.

>> My response is always, "How does it make you feel?"
>
> Seems to me the phenomenon under discussion could be better
> titled:
>
>   "Fake feelings about real images?"
John - 12 Apr 2005 18:44 GMT
>My response is always, "How does it make you feel?"

    "Does it make you feel" might be more appropriate.

JD - www.puresilver.org
Mark Lauter - 12 Apr 2005 18:50 GMT
> >My response is always, "How does it make you feel?"
>
> "Does it make you feel" might be more appropriate.

That's a great point and it's why the original post got me thinking.  Last
night I was able to sorta put it into words and wrote this:
http://marklauter.com/journal/?p=24

Signature

Mark Lauter

Photos, Ideas & Opinions
http://www.marklauter.com

Wayne - 10 Apr 2005 16:30 GMT
> For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
> b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
> past 15 years.
>
> The only print manipulation I perform is selective dodging, burning, and
> cropping.

That is still manipulation. Once you do that (and we all probably do)
you lose some of the high ground on claiming reality.

> It seems that lately some viewers  are questioning the "reality" of my
> work. I am often asked; "Oh, did you create that image in Photoshop?".
>
> My images are true to life....just as I saw them with my own eyes at the
> time of exposure. I get upset when viewers suspect that my work is "made
> up" or is "not real".

See above

> I am beginning to lose the excitement and joy that my photography has
> given me over the years.   I just do not feel inspired to  seek out
> great scenes to photograph when it is now possible to just create an
> artifical scene on a computer.

I know the feeling, but you have to fight it or the bastards will win.
I wish I had a solution to keep the inspiration going, because I feel
much the same way sometimes.

> Does anyone else feel this way...or am I just too sensitive for my own
> good?
>
> Terry

Yes I feel much the same way, but not for the exact same reason.
Photography almost always involves manipulation of some degree, and I
think arguments to the contrary will fail every time. The way I look at
it the important difference is not one of reality versus fake its one
of labor and manual craftsmanship versus computer technowizardry. They
are entirely different skill sets (I did not say one was better), and
one need not do any labor or exhibit any manual craftsmanship to make
Photoshop images. That is what you are proud of (or should be), I
think, and is a valid and defensible reason for objecting to the
implication that your work is produced otherwise.
Mark Lauter - 11 Apr 2005 16:56 GMT
> My images are true to life....just as I saw them with my own eyes at the
> time of exposure. I get upset when viewers suspect that my work is "made
> up" or is "not real".

Ansel Adams refers to photography as an artistic "departure from reality".

Things for you to consider:

1. Who cares what the averaged unwashed viewer thinks?

2. Art is art.  Choose your medium.  Some people are expressing themselves
with heavily manipulated images in PS, some are expressing themselves with
careful shutter time consideration and careful darkroom work.  Each has its
place.

> I am beginning to lose the excitement and joy that my photography has
> given me over the years.   I just do not feel inspired to  seek out
> great scenes to photograph when it is now possible to just create an
> artifical scene on a computer.

It has always been possible to create an artificial scene - computer or no.
Photography isn't painting and neither is it digital image manipulation or
ray tracing.

I now prefer to focus on the mood created by my artwork, not the method by
which it was created.  I have a friend who performs wonders with PovRay.  He
spends hours creating amazing artificial scenes, however these images have
no asthetic appeal to me - not because of his tool, but because of how he
sees the world.

> Does anyone else feel this way...or am I just too sensitive for my own
> good?

Probably both. :)

There was a short time last year when I went through something similar.  I
had to decide to shoot for me, not for other people.  It helped.

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jjs - 12 Apr 2005 02:17 GMT
> Things for you to consider:
>
> 1. Who cares what the averaged unwashed viewer thinks?

Indeed. It is the 'washed' we have to contend with - those who sit behind a
computer monitor or TV all day devloping their impressionistic reference to
reality.

> 2. Art is art.  Choose your medium.  Some people are expressing themselves
> with heavily manipulated images in PS, some are expressing themselves with
> careful shutter time consideration and careful darkroom work.  Each has
> its
> place.

Yes. There are those who Are There to make the pictuere, and those who
simulate the same, and the 'tweeners who do both.  So be it. Choose your
endeavor and be there yourself. There is no way to encourage the
bench-racers, scope-dopes, those with no real lives. The later two are not
photographers.
Mark Lauter - 11 Apr 2005 17:07 GMT
> The only print manipulation I perform is selective dodging, burning, and
> cropping.
>
> It seems that lately some viewers  are questioning the "reality" of my
> work. I am often asked; "Oh, did you create that image in Photoshop?".

BTW, Salvador Dali painted his own impressions over top other people's
prints.  He didn't use a computer, but he essentially did the same thing
that is commonly referred to as photoshopping today.  I don't think that
makes his artistic vision any less amazing.

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Photos, Ideas & Opinions
http://www.marklauter.com

Travis Porco - 12 Apr 2005 02:33 GMT
>For over 20 years I have enjoyed traditional photography, both color and
>b/w.  I have also printed in both a color and a b/w darkroom for the
>past 15 years.

>The only print manipulation I perform is selective dodging, burning, and
>cropping.

>It seems that lately some viewers  are questioning the "reality" of my
>work. I am often asked; "Oh, did you create that image in Photoshop?".

>My images are true to life....just as I saw them with my own eyes at the
>time of exposure. I get upset when viewers suspect that my work is "made
>up" or is "not real".

>I am beginning to lose the excitement and joy that my photography has
>given me over the years.   I just do not feel inspired to  seek out
>great scenes to photograph when it is now possible to just create an
>artifical scene on a computer.

>Does anyone else feel this way...or am I just too sensitive for my own
>good?

Take their question as a badge of pride..._you_ do not need to simulate
what you can photograph.
Lloyd Erlick - 12 Apr 2005 18:55 GMT
Terry Davis <sportsguy_2005@webtv.net> wrote:

>... am I just too sensitive for my own good?

apr1205 from Lloyd Erlick,

I hope so! Most of us probably are, and I hope we don't lose it!

regards,
-le
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Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: portrait@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
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