The Death of Skill
Why Film is Better Than Digital Photography Story and Photography By Lauren White
As the technological world has progressed, and the digital camera has become more sophisticated, it has become apparent that old, classy film photography is becoming a lost art. Nowadays, it’s click and go. The time-honored art of film photography is lost. What happened? Photography used to be an art. These days, with everyone owning a camera, photography is no longer the passionate art form it used to be. Although digital cameras sometimes offer better quality photos, there is barely any technique behind it. All one has to do is simply click a button;most of the time, a gorgeous picture appears on the screen. It was not that way 50 plus years ago. Using old cameras takes genuine talent. For example, the Diana camera takes dreamy, radiant pictures when used correctly, but that is difficult to accomplish. Weeks of practice and rolls of film are required. That is the real art of photography. Now let’s talk about the technical side. ‘Digital still has a huge problem with highlight reASPECT 2012 pg 5
production,” says photographer Ken Rockwell on www.kenrockwell.com. Film does not. On the other hand, if you do not like sometimes purposely scratchy and blurred pictures, I would not recommend the Diana or the Holga.
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“The mistakes
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film can result in
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invoking image” Although, not all photos taken by film cameras come out that way, like the creative ‘rugged, edgy’ look that can be achieved by these classic cameras. Most professionals I have talked to say that digital cameras are very expensive for what they do. In a year, they become outdated. People will get tired of them and wish they had the next model. If someone is going to spend $1,500 on a camera, it better be film. They will still be tak-
ing beautiful pictures 40 years from now! No one can say that about a digital camera. Plus, film cameras are much more durable than digital. If you drop a digital camera, you are most likely going to be buying a new one soon. Sure, digital cameras are more convenient because they use a memory card instead of film. However, film really is not that difficult to get developed. I can see how one might want to see the picture they have taken immediately afterwards (which digital offers and film does not), but the anticipation of looking at ones artwork is part of the fun of film photography. According to the Guide to Film Photography, “Digital cameras are indeed amazing and an almost effortless tool for photography. You can shoot any angle, any time, thousands of times. Most of the time, a majority of those pictures will be suitable. Among these hundreds of pictures, the photographer can pick and choose which ones to print! And yet, where is the work put forth? Masters-of-photography have studied and learned, much through trial and error, the photography film medium – film speed and grain, response curves, and tonal range. The speed at