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Photoshopped VS Not

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Scandanavian War Machine:
that's fine. think about the subject matter; that's the most important part of a photo. But who cares how the photographer came up with the final image? does it really matter? if it's a good photo then it's still a good photo regardless of process.

what i'm getting at is the subject matter is what's really important. the various processes used to get there are secondary.


edit: after re-reading your post, Anyways, i think we are actually on the same page. maybe not, but i think we are saying the same thing.

Lines:
After reading your post about Le baiser..., I don't see why you couldn't be moved by something that is digital that also has meaning behind it. Earlier you were saying that the process itself made it more fascinating, but now it's about subject matter and concept. If an artist chooses to express him/herself in a digital medium, why does it have to diminish his/her work? (We're going in circles, I know, sorry.)

I mean, I can get where it's really insulting to be asked what program you used to manipulate your photo when it was done in a darkroom. Any time I tell someone I'm an artist, they automatically assume I paint and ask me to paint them something, when I can bearly tolerate painting. But that doesn't mean I hold painting at a low standard, I am still fascinated by it, I just don't like doing it nearly as much as I do printing and drawing.

Scandanavian War Machine:
I understand what you're saying. that was your best explaination yet. And i do agree that there is an over-saturation of tweenagers turning an okay picture black & white and saying it's art. but that's more a matter of stupid people in the front making the true artists in the back look bad.
these people have given a a negative stigma to something that doesn't deserve it. i used to love black and white photography but lately, as a result of this internet over-saturation i've gotten tired of it because it's all over the place. that's why i, personally decided to start working almost exclusively in color for a while because i was getting sick of my own b/w images just because of how i was beginning to perceive them.

but i don't wanna blame these kids exclusively or give them too much of a hard time because at least more kids are taking an interest in photography and hopefully as they grow up their style will grow with them. it's just a phase and a fad and everything comes and goes so i guess it's nothing to worry too seriously about.

</rant>

Slick:
I have been shooting film five years now with my mom's gorgeous old SLR that she gave to me when I moved out. I like being a silly old romantic using film, but that does not mean it is a superior medium. I like getting photos, I like having negatives and hard copies of things I've shot, but I've been into photography long enough to know that there is nothing wrong with digital anymore.

If you're talking about the artistic merits of physical over digital, well, then you really need to talk about people doing interesting things with the process of developing film. If they're not challenging the medium like that, there is nothing that makes the photos inherently better than a digital photo. If someone's not actually using the things that do set film apart from digital, then there's no difference.

After reading this thread, and wanting to reply at points already gone past, it seems like the conclusion is you're being spiteful towards people with photoshop, much in the same way that 'google is ruining everything' by making knowledge accessible to people who don't like to know everything. Any arguments as to the artistic integrity of black & white shots are valid, and I agree with the sentiment that saturation and availability of technology means there's a lot of mediocre amateur art, but to say something is 'meh' before you know it's film is akin to saying a band is 'meh' before you found out they were indie. It makes you look like an elitist prick.

The picture you linked is a nice picture. I'll admit, nothing groundbreaking, but I think it is a good picture. Knowledge that the picture was captured on film and developed does not change my opinion of the picture, but it does make me think that the photographer is a little cooler.

P.S. Following SWM's thought, the black and white pictures of complaint could be like the high-school garage punk rock bands of photos. They're kind of detracting from the value of their parent-genre, and they all sound the same, but some are exceptional, and most will grow up. Everyone starts doing something.

Mnementh:
You always say things I want to say but so much more eloquently and without sounding like an asshole.  I guess I'm the bad cop.


--- Quote from: Slick on 23 Oct 2007, 16:01 ---P.S. Following SWM's thought, the black and white pictures of complaint could be like the high-school garage punk rock bands of photos. They're kind of detracting from the value of their parent-genre, and they all sound the same, but some are exceptional, and most will grow up. Everyone starts doing something.

--- End quote ---

Oddly, my favorite style of black and white photography is the high contrast street photography that's often associated with early punk.

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