You have seen it before, there are now many ways that technology can take the place of skilled workers. It happens in many industries and is accepted as a part of life.
It struck me today (as I jumped onto the Instagram bandwagon) that in many instances this is quite the shame.
During my final year at university I worked on a viewfinder project. The process involved shooting digitally with an SLR through a TLR reflex camera. In my case I used the Canon 5D MKII and a beautiful old Argus 75.
I created a light proof contraption that looks something like this...
The result...
Deforestation
Global warming.
Benefits
Strikes
And these...
These images were all cropped and edited with Photoshop. Pre- Instagram.
What I find frustrating... anyone can now pick up an Iphone, download an app and create something that looks remarkably similar to something that previously i'd spent hours trying to achieve.
Pictures taken today via Instagram...
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Whilst studying Photography I met some incredibly talented people. There is one lecturer that sticks in my mind in particular as someone with extraordinary skill and talent. This artist spent years perfecting the dark room practice of combination printing. This technique had been used since the 19th century and involved each element being exposed from an original negative onto the same sheet of photographic paper then being moved between enlargers. This process combines images with no loss of quality. Essentially, this is photoshop by hand at its best. The images never been touched by a computer and were made entirely from scratch by hand in the dark.
A tree in Islington Source: hagsphotography
Storm in a teacup Source: hagsphotography
Careful garden Source: hagsphotography
To some these pictures may not seem extraordinary, we are used to seeing manipulated images today. With the birth of Photoshop came the immediate drop in demand for skilled dark room workers. Real talent was lost.
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