[alt-photo] Re: new MFA program in alt!

[Diana Bloomfield]

Hi Loris,

Yes, I tend to agree that not ALL big digital prints are bad-- it's just that I rarely see any that aren't printed where you could measure them in feet, not inches, that if they're all printed that way, well-- chances are, most won't be very interesting.  In the end, they just come across as one big blur to me.  And I do think that many of those big prints I see are actually soulless.   I could name a few that aren't, but then I think they would be equally compelling printed small.  I'm guessing that people don't think too much about image content, and just think "big."  I do think the size one chooses to print should, in some part, be related to the image content itself-- not just how big a printer one can afford.  Every time I see a big-ass overly saturated digital print, I typically think (1) This person must have a pretty good day job to be able to afford that, or they're actually selling the stuff; and (2) Would this be interesting if it didn't have "big" for its initial impact?  And, for me, the answer to #2 is usually no.

And, yes, I definitely get the "vicious circle" problem.

Diana

On Apr 19, 2010, at 3:05 PM, Loris Medici wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> 2010/4/19 Diana Bloomfield <dhbloomfield at bellsouth.net>:
>> ...
>> the bigger the print, the higher the price tag
>> you can put on it.  I  tend to forget that some people actually do this to
>> make money. ;)
> 
> Well, in my case big prints can't make money, because:
> 
> 1. Indeed, big prints raise an expectation of a high price tag. If I
> price them high, they're not going to be sold -> people aren't willing
> to pay "big"(!) money for photography in Turkey. Why would they bother
> to pay that much for something they can make too(!)...??? (Their point
> of view, not mine.) Then, if I price them low (remember it's all about
> big prints), then it means I'm not worth for their attention / money,
> because I don't value my own work. Kind of a vicious circle...
> 
> 2. Big prints require big venues / rooms / walls and pose real
> logistics and design / decoration problems. Small prints are sold much
> easier and faster...
> 
>> Sadly, he probably has a point.  I am so tired of this big-ass digital print
>> phenomenon, though (which, I suspect, is directly correlated to our
>> society's growing obesity problem), and consistently surprised by how many
>> people are drawn in by these (mostly soulless) big-ass prints.
> 
> Well I happen to like Andreas Gursky's huge prints with all the soul
> they have in their apparent soullessness. I mean not all big prints /
> images are bad, very much like the fact that not all small prints are
> necessarily good... Some images work printed big, some work printed
> small. To me, all depends...
> 
> Regards,
> Loris.
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