>I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Nearly all photographs
>we see on web sites have something important missing: An indication of
>their size.
>
>What are we looking at? Postage stamps enlarged 10 times or subway murals
>reduced 40 times? No idea whatsoever...
>
>Yet the size of a print is one of the first things potential buyers want to
>know.
Valid point IF the photographic images presented on the site are
reproductions of prints for sale or for some reason need to be presented
as reproductions. If someone is displaying reproductions of platinum,
gum, or whatever, yes, it would be important because there is a print
which exists and which is being represented. On my site, there may be
some of these, to be sure. Actually, right now there are only a few
cyanotypes and you're right, I have not indicated the size. I did think
about it and decided not to indicate size, because the presentation is so
far from the qualities of the original that I am just not sure yet how to
handle it. First, the need seems to be to get the relationship of the
scale of the images proportionally correct one with another. Then an
indication of size would have more meaning. If I were actively trying to
sell prints, I would surely indicate the size. As of now, I am not. I'm
afraid I'm not much of a commercialist. But, people might like to have
the opportunity to buy my prints, and I'd want to make that possible for
them. Some way of indicating size in a meaningful way would be helpful.
However, there is a vast area where it is not at all important: where the
images are presented as images, not as representations of something else.
As an individual whose whole life has revolved around the visual
dimension, I am interested in having lots of images on my site. I like
to look at images and my site is there for people who enjoy visual
images. I treat the site itself as the product. This is more an
editorial approach; I want my viewer to respond visually to the images as
they are, not as stand-ins for something else that they are supposed to
represent. Typically, I scan direct from a negative or transparency.
Very often, there is no print, never has been, and probably never will be
-- though there certainly could be. The glowing phosphors are the
medium. As such, it has a certain appeal which interests me, but it
cannot represent very well the feel of the papers I like to print on.
I'm still exploring it, and I'm not sure how I'm going to use it.
I guess the real question this points to is "what is the web?". Is it an
art medium, or a commercial one? 100,000 hardware vendors can't be
wrong. It's commercial for sure. Guess I better get with it and sell
something.
Larry Bullis
Skagit Valley College