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Tuesday, December 18 2007, 11:43 PM
Why make only one photograph and then destroy the negative
Over the last few days I have been asked by many why we are only making one original photograph from the negative that was used to create the final print and then destroying the negative after the photograph was created to ensure that another traditional hand made photograph can never be made again.
The reason behind the idea of only making one original photograph from the negative that created it, is not because I feel that it makes it any more valuable or that is makes it anymore of an artwork, it is because I want to accomplish two thing with the photographic medium;
1. I want to be able to treat photography as a painter treats their paintings, not to replicate what a painter does, but instead to grow as a painter does by always creating new work on a continual basis. A painter only makes one original and then moves onto the next painting therefore always pushing their vision and creative edge. They do not paint the exact same image over and over again, if they did how can they ever grow? They couldn’t.
2. Is to have people consider photography to be a viable art form instead of just another pretty picture.
Many times I have had collectors come to the house to pickup one of my wife’s larger paintings and the one thing that I hear more often than not when they see my photographs is, “Wow, those are some really beautiful pictures, what camera did you use, how was it made, how many mega pixels”, I then have to go through the whole spiel that these are traditional photographs created using a large format view camera, printed by hand in a darkroom and so on, then after we finish talking, they look at the painting and say, “Wow what beautiful works of art”. Notice they didn’t say painting but rather ART!
Why do people consider a photograph just a pretty picture and a painting, drawing, sculpture a work of art?
1. Because a painting, drawing, sculpture is something that a person creates by hand, from their imagination, their inner soul, something that the artist themselves is engaged in to create the final piece.
2. A photograph on the other hand in most peoples mind is a mechanical process, a process of chemistry, not art. What they do not realize is that we guys and gals that practice traditional photography are completely involved in the process from the start to finish just like a painter or any other artist for that matter. We have to test the film to make sure what we visualize will be captured on the negative for our final photograph, we have to wait for the light, for the scene to take shape, process the negative by hand, create the final photograph in the darkroom by hand, mount the finished photograph and finally hand spot the final photograph to perfection. Even though the photographic process is mechanical we are involved in it from start to finish and if we made a mistake at any stage in the game, we have to go back to the scene to re-photograph it as we can’t fix it like the digital photographers can.
There is more to traditional photography than just pushing a button and getting a nice photograph.
So how do we change this perception of photography in today’s world?
I do not know the answer to this question, but I do know what I am going to try and do.
Here lies the problem with photography in today’s world. With the advent digital now anyone can do it, which is great but also with it comes the cheapening of it as well.
What do I mean?
Well, first off look at all the pictures you see out there, many are terrible, some are outstanding, but unfortunately the bad overwhelm the good, therefore making the pubic look and say, what the heck is this, what rubbish, this isn’t art. And to make matter worse you see digital images that are numbered 1 of 1000 with a price tag of $29 or 1 or 100 for $50, for decent to beautiful looking images.
Then you have the other camp that is hybrid that shoot film or digital and create digital negative to produce a traditional photograph. This now also hurts because this cheapens what the traditional platinum printer for example has had to master over many year and now makes his process one that anyone can do with a push of a button taking away that uniqueness and beauty of the process.
So in the end, when you show a person your hand made art with a price tag of $125, $225, fill in the blank for price, why on earth would they spend the money on it when the can get another one made with the same perceived process for a fraction of the price, they wouldn’t.
And that takes us back to the whole one of one idea. Now I need to re-iterate the fact that it does not make it more of an art, nor does it make it more valuable, but it does something they cant, it make it unique and to some that might be enough for them to engage is buying the piece for a little more than the editions of fill in the number you like.
So I hope that explains what it is I am trying to do. It does not make me anymore an artist than anyone else, nor does it make my work more valuable, but it does make it unique in the fact that their will only ever be one original produced of any image I take or photograph I create from here on out.
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