Methods of presentation and distribution we take for granted today were completely unknown when I began to photograph fifty years ago.
When I started making photographic prints, we had black and white chemistry for the home darkroom. In the early 1970’s Beseler came out with the first practical way to make color prints in a home darkroom. It was primitive, but it worked well enough. We needed this chemistry to create silver gelatin prints we could mount, mat, and hang on the wall. That was the world of photography for the home-based photographer.
All I really need to add are the two magic words, “digital photography” and possible photographic output goes from the two-lane blacktop road to a six lane autobahn (with an unposted speed limit). There are so many ways to share an image today one of the first things to think about when out with your digital camera or smartphone is the method of sharing the result.
I think I am part of the last generation that learned photography as a completely mechanical/chemical process. My children’s generation were able to embrace digital technology from their childhood. Using digital cameras and software as a primary learning tool is much different than my learning experience. I was able to learn digital editing by extrapolating my analog experiences to the digital world. My children’s generation learned digital editing as a software process. (The huge difference in the approach to photographic education is a discussion to have at a future date.)
Learning photography as a software process created as many avenues of distribution as there are software packages. Once we digitally edit our images, we can share them on multiple social media platforms, or our very own websites. On the websites we can share individual images, or we can create acrobat publications for our audience. We can share these with people all over the planet for as long as we have our website available.
We’ve progressed a huge distance in sharing our images in the last fifty years.
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