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

[Diana Bloomfield]

Yes, while I think there are exceptions-- you and Loris both have  
mentioned people who are pretty well known and most likely have  
unlimited access to excellent printing (and printers).  What most of  
us see on a weekly basis, though-- or, I should just say what I see--  
are prints from people who typically never learned how to print in the  
traditional darkroom, I'm guessing.  They have the money to buy a big  
printer, though.  I honestly think their prints suffer from that lack  
of darkroom training.  I've stated before that I would never go back  
into a traditional darkroom to print-- never liked it when I did do  
it-- so I get that no one wants to do that anymore.  I certainly  
wouldn't.   But I do think those who have that traditional darkroom  
knowledge can transfer some of that when they make digital prints.   I  
just don't see a lot of good digital printing these days, but I know  
it can be done.  For now, though, the majority of the work *I* see  
mostly get the impact from their size and not a whole lot more.  My  
sense is that image content has taken second place to the size of the  
print (with some exceptions, of course).

And while I know that this probably occurred with traditional darkroom  
printing, what I also see a lot more of with digital prints (which I  
never really see with alt process prints) is the seemingly obsessive  
following of trends.  A topic becomes popular and trendy, and people  
just keep doing it over and over and over again.  I honestly don't  
remember that happening so much when people had darkrooms, but maybe  
it did.

Well, that's my last little criticism for the day.  Of course, I might  
be quick to criticize something else tomorrow. ;)

Diana





> Actually, Nick Brandt's Africa images are inkjet and huge...but they  
> are sublime.
>
> There are exceptions, so I shouldn't be so quick to criticize...and  
> there are practical limits to darkroom printing.
>
> p
>