This is a letter I am drafting to my childrens school principal. It is based on replys I got from this list regarding the schools new Photography course and whether or not they should provide a darkroom, or go fully digital. Any additions/subtractions ideas or typo's would be greatfully recieved.Text follows....
Darkroom or digital for learning photography With the transition to digital photography many have suggested that film is soon to be obsolete and that the darkroom is a thing of the past. Indeed, the word 'Photography' derives from the Greek and photos (light) and graphis(paintbrush) or 'Painting with light'. Certainly the way of the future is digital, market forces will see to that, but what of the learning of photography. Photography is classified as a fine art and for those who are just beginning in this transitional stage, there are many gotchas. What has happened over the past few decades is that the cost per exposure has decreased dramatically. This benefits the consumer, in that they can now get more bang for the buck. Medium format supplanted sheet film when interchangable lens medium format cameras started to show up in the late 1950's with the Hasselblad. Up until that time, roll film cameras were primarily folders of indeterminate quality, and were eschewed by the professional. When roll film and portable electronic flash became a quality option, this replaced the single frame models. 35mm dropped the cost per exposure even further, and at about the same time, mass production in the printing end became viable, along with colour prints. As the cost per exposure dropped, photographers who adopted the new formats were able to give more for less in terms of volume, and those who didn't adapt either retired or went bust. Of course, every time an "improvement" has come along, picture quality has suffered, but that is not really germaine to this part of the discussion, The process of creating photographic images entails many components, many of which have little to do with the darkrom or even the type of camera, whether it be film or digital. These components include lighting, exposure, backlighting, depth of field, composition, and the use of flash. All of these are essential for beginners to grasp before they even pick up a camera. Much satisfaction can be gained by students by showing how to improve the images they are familiar with. Composition and timing can be taught even using a mobile phone camera. Early photograpers edited in the cameras veiw finder. A lot of current photographers, and I am talking about commerical photographers here, do not seem know how to edit their work at all. If you can get the students interested, then discussing further techniques, which could include at least a field trip to a conventional darkroom, could let you pace the material to the interest level of the students. The short feedback loop of digital will increase the speed of learning for the students. Digital also has financial benifits as no purpose built facility is required for a darkroom. Added cost savings are made as no chemicals or films need to be purchased. Digital is not entirely without cost though. The cost of Flash memory cards, card readers, rechargable batteries and battery chargers are required to keep a camera in operation. However, once these items have been purchased, the total cost per image is negligible when compared to film and darkroom. If suitable computers and printers have already been purchased, there is further savings here also. There is an increasing amount of image editting software available freely, the best of these being The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). This is comparable with the high priced Adobe Photoshop and has excellent histogram rendering. I can't imagine teaching anyone about digital exposures without incorporating the concept of histograms.And as far as the exposure is concerned, ISO is a much more important part of the decision than it was in the past. Digital photography still involves the same rules of light, composition, and exposure, Does the use of digigal mean the consumer gets a better product? In some ways perhaps, in other ways perhaps not. Taking the picture, developing the film, printing it on an enlarger, and developing it in chemical trays, all by hand, gives a feeling much more like an artist and gives much the same satisfaction that I suspect a painter feels upon finishing their painting. I have never felt that with the digital format, be it directly from a digital camera or a film based scanner. My experience with analog black and white has greatly helped me to create a better black and white image on the computer as well since I now at least know how it "should look". Too many people using cameras thesedays have never seen, much less made, a good, high-quality photograph. How can we expect them to know how to produce one for the computer if they don't know what one is? Not only would darkroom work be helpful, but visiting a few exhibitions showing excellent prints would be in order as well Darkroom work is a lot closer to the art and craft of photography than computer manipulation. I is important a student has an "understanding* of a subject rather than simply knowing how to use a tool. Having said that, It would be better to have a photography class in digital than no photography class at all. It is vital for the beginning photographer to understand the correlation between what they see, and the final print. Teaching students to see the final print, and how thier perseption of that print can be achieved is the true art of the photographer. With schools and many other institutions, the problem of insurance and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) mean rising costs. In these days of litigation it is difficult to keep alot of chemicals about without incurring higher costs for safe storage and higher insurance premiums. Whilst many manufacturers of darkroom supplies profess to be non-toxic and odourless, I cannot help but think what would happen to a student drinking a bottle of developer. I believe the ideal digital solution would be to equip students with the eqivalent of the Pentax *istDs and K series lenses. This combination would be akin giving them the K1000 of the digital world. That is, a manual camera with digital capture. As far as digital darkroom skills are concerned, I'm sure this can be a great learning experience. But they should take things beyond the computer screen and make some inkjet prints at the very least. Further, it is important to make sure a course is not simply educating consumers. A music teacher once decribed to me his experience with his students. Most of the students would end up as "educated consumers only", that is, music listeners.Some would become activly playing music practitioners, and a few would become professional musicians. I feel the analogy holds true for photography and further more, I believe it is crucial not to simply churn out educated consumers (point and shooters with a labtop). We live in a society fuelled by instant gratification and disposable everything. We need children today who will want to know how things work as they travel down the photographic road. Digital is just another brick in this road. I question whether or not Photography's status as a Fine Art will continue into the digital world unless we provide a solid foundation for upcoming photographers to grow upon.. Kind regards Kevin Waterson -- ______ (_____ \ _____) ) ____ ____ ____ ____ | ____/ / _ ) / _ | / ___) / _ ) | | ( (/ / ( ( | |( (___ ( (/ / |_| \____) \_||_| \____) \____) Kevin Waterson Port Macquarie, Australia
