FDA Creative Practise Photography
Creative cultures 2
17/4/1
http://mattharris-fda.weebly.com
Is Film Dead?
Matthew Harris
Is film photography a dying art? This is the question that inspires and drives my film photography work. Film photography is about subverting modern technologies and techniques to get deeper inside the vocabulary of photography. Digital photography is a blossoming art form that grows more and more popular every day. Can film photography have a place in the artistic world? Is it possible to establish this art form as one just as important as digital photography?
When I started out as a budding photographer, digital photography was in its developmental stage. It was only beginning to have an impact on the world as a serious art form. I believe the foundations of how a good photograph should be composed is getting lost and somewhat neglected. With the transformation of the photography world moving from traditional film to the more modern digital, people are taking less time to notice and understand what they are taking a photo of. In the words of Ken Rockwell, the most important thing to make a good photograph is ‘strong underlying compositional order’. This includes composition, colour(or lack thereof ), lighting and individuality. Digital cameras are evolving more and more each year , and are making it easier to forget what it takes to build a great photograph. The new generation of photographers are quite often missing out on learning the skills required to use and develop film cameras. In my opinion, all newcomers to the world of photography should learn to use and develop film properly and efficiently. In this way, the traditional art of film is offered as an alternative to digital, and gives new photographers the option to continue their studies and career with this art form. I believe this will help film be established as a way of photography just as important as digital. With no introduction to film cameras
Bibliography: Mark McNulty, 2008, Pop Culture, Sheffield, Liverpool University Press Ronald Ophuis, 2013 February, Post Photography, Elephant, Issues 13 Taschen, 2007, 20th century photography, Ludwig Cologne, Taschen Lomography, 2007, Lomography began with a fateful encounter in the early 1990s, http://www.lomography.com/about/timeline