the digital haze.

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technology is influencing our lives in so many ways, and it is affecting aspects of every subject and discipline. something i wanted to touch on was how technology and media are affecting the art world. two primary areas have been affected most in the last two decades or so: photography and graphic design.

in high school, i took four years of photography; three of darkroom and one of digital. over the course of my time studying the subject, i noticed an increasing emphasis on the digital side of things. in high schools (and even in colleges), darkroom photography is being phased out.

kodak has stopped making photo paper for darkroom developing, thus the price of photo paper is increasing, and schools are becoming less and less willing to accommodate for building darkrooms and disposing of hazardous chemicals used in the developing process.

personally, while the phasing out of traditional photography and introduction of digital photography makes sense economically and ecologically, i think there's something to be said for traditional photography. i much preferred my years in traditional photography to the one i spent doing digital. i think there's more of a sense of personal accomplishment that goes into taking photos, developing the film, enlarging the image, and having the technique and skill to refine the photograph. in digital photography, there aren't those little quirks that make a roll of film interesting like accidental reticulation (look it up, it's a neat technique!).

in short, digital photography is neat, convenient, and generally cheaper. but traditional is still my personal favorite. it's a labor intensive project, but you can really be proud of what you've done when it's finished.