>In deconstructing reason #2 there are other ways to achieve the visual
>syntax of a wet plate negative. For example, the blue sensitivity of
>the wet plate image can be imitated by using a fairly sharp cutting
>blue filter or by using a blue sensitive film (Kodak Commercial film, I
>think, is both blue sensitive and slow). After that, the only other
>syntactical element common to wet plate negatives would be the tendency
In an age of preprocessed food and laugh tracks attached to _point_
out the humor, probably the most valid reason to attempt old technology
is to experience first hand the manual skills and temperment necessary
to achieve successful results. There is, by definition, a training
period where one becomes accustomed to the peculiar characteristics
of a particular technique. After this initial period, the reasons which
may have drawn a person to this medium, will be modified and change
according to the results. If the physical attributes of a certain
medium can enhance the artist's expressive vision, then further explor-
ation may be attempted.
>Counter balance that to the dangers of working with wet colloidion
>emulsions. I wouldn't want to encourage a student to work with these
>materials if the only benefit to their art was the ability to explore a
>different visual syntax. If for no other reasons than liability, I'd
>have them working with Photoshop instead.
>
The tendency to be "blown away" at the manipulative power of a program
like PhotoShop is soon replaced by the realization that mere electronic
shifts in image qualities may or may not enhance/alter the meaning of
the original image in any significant artistic fashion. So, again, one
must rethink the value of the particular application.
Limestone still holds the attention of some who have become comfortable
with the reality of how the stone reacts to their marks/thoughts/conceptions.
Getting one's hands dirty is quickly becoming misunderstood/unappreciated
in a technologically sophisticated society. There _is_ something to be
said for the experience of control, even though older mediums are fraught
with there own intrinsic problems. Although there may not be a valid
scientific explanation for the attraction to possibly dangerous chemicals
and time consuming proceedures, there is a word which might suffice: love.
Les Sattinger