RB Design

All Things Photography

1. Michael 01.22.10 / 2pm

   RB
   While it is always dangerous to ascribe right and wrong to another person’s “vision”, I too find fake film notations around digital images , well, insulting is the word that comes to mind.
   I have always been a proponent of knowing the history of the medium in which you work.
   Having lived through the time when printing borders or even sprocket holes became the rage, it’s purpose was often to prove or say ” look ,no croping, I got it all in the frame”
   There was (is) a school of thought that looked upon the “need” to crop as an indication of “sloppy seeing”.
   This had at least partial roots in good practical technique-(if you only have 24 x36 mm of film to work with, don’t waste any or you are delivering chromes to the client and croping isn’t practical) – ( and to be sure pushing yourself to get a strong composition at the time of exposure can help sharpen
   your skills) but some folks made a religion out of “never croping”
   I never really “got” that. People also occasionally printed multiple frames together to show an “unassailable sequence”
   or even whole contact sheets,– the most famous were perhaps Bert Stern’s contacts of ” The Last Sitting” with grease pencil markings in Marilyn’s own hand.
   This look seeped into the aesthetic of the time. We Liked “sloppy black borders” on our prints. We all took mill bastard files to the insides of our negative carriers. The ” look” came from the fact that we were the generation who couldn’t file straight, and didn’t understand that because the negative carriers were much thicker than negatives , the bottom half of the carrier needed to be filed to a bevel (liken picture mat) in order not to create an out of focus black border.
   In their own way each of these “artifices” had a reason, or offered “proof” of something.
   While one can debate the value of the “something”, in every case it was organic to the process.
   Am I bothered by someone who displays a digital photograph with a sloppy black border? Not really if it’s done because the artist likes the look, But I think it should be in a period correct aspect ratio or it will immediately register as “untrue” to anyone who knows a bit about photography’s recent history.

   With regard to fabricating fake Tri-X sprocket holes & film markings etc –I really don’t like that. In my view it shows an ignorance of the artist’s chosen medium, and by virtue of that, a disrespect as well.
   It’s like really bad sampling in music, only hacks do it.
   But when a good artists sample old music it’s a “tip of the hat” to something from the past that was great, AND the artist then takes it further. A very high complement. It shows an understanding and respect for what came before and uses it to break new artistic ground.
   Fake Tri-X is not PROfessional, it’s FAUXfessional ; -)
   Michael
2. robogobo 01.23.10 / 7pm

   Yeah, but on the other hand, really? I mean, today, in the age of “retro” this and “old skool” that, the digital age, where nothing is real and everything’s reproduced, are you really so shocked and disgusted by fake registration marks? I remember doing this in school with “real” film because I though it was cool to show this part of the negative that fell outside the frame, and it gave the print a layering property that called attention to the fact that this is a print from a negative, not just an image on paper.

   I’ve never personally done it with digital, and I think the poorly done ones in website gallery themes and html emails are just that- poorly done. But I can’t think of any way to achieve the same effect of layer or calling attention to the image as coming from something else. Maybe that’s it then, it can’t be honestly done for the same reason nothing digital is honest. What are they going to do, print a histogram? or the edge of the Photoshop window? Those would be the equivalent, and yet they would ruin the photo, because they’re calling “Digital” out for faking the real thing.

   In a way, to fake anthing these days is actually respecting the medium. funny and sad.
3. RB 01.23.10 / 7pm

   robogobo -

   The term “old school” bothers me even more than fake film borders. When it is spelled “old skool” it actually makes me enraged on the verge of becoming physically violent. Same goes for the term “hardcore’ as is generally used as well as “retro”, “vintage”, along with a host of other terms.

   I disagree that this type of thing is paying respect or homage to anything – in general it is a meaningless cliche with very few exceptions. Here is a shining example – a Kodak TMAX 400 “film edge” on color video stills that graces CNN every so often. Now isn’t that ol’ skool hardcore vintage retro kewl for ya.

   RB
4. Michael 01.23.10 / 8pm

   The one that actually bothers me the most are the digital pictures printed inside Polaroid 45 P/N negative “Frames”
   Complete with processing residue goo (that would have come off in the sodium sulfite clearing bath.)
5. robogobo 01.24.10 / 8am

   RB-

   Well, I’m not totally disagreeing with you
   (although if your rage against terminology is more than a joke, you may want to take a little holiday now and then- and stay away from crowds of kids), but to be clear, digital anything is essentially fake, and so to fake something, like film edges, is, essentially, respecting the digital medium (albeit great disrespect to the faked medium).

   And in that vein, CNN is faking much more than film edges. They pioneered digital news (essentailly on/off).

   Sign of the times, I’m afraid.

   Rob
6. robogobo 01.24.10 / 8am

   Ah, I see, when I first said “respecting the medium” I didn’t say which medium. Yeah, it’s not homage or respect to the real medium, as there’s little respect to be had in the digital age. All fake, no respect, just cheaper.

   Rob
7. RB 01.24.10 / 10am

   robogobo – of course the physical stuff is just hyperbole.

   I really don’t have that kind of issue. My feign anger is really just how strongly I feel about people thinking for themselves and more importantly being THOUGHTFUL period.

   I don’t mean this in a little way – I mean it in a big way. Most people have always been easily influenced by popular thought. I have noticed that that has become even more pronounced – not to humanities improvement.

   Being more precise – people seem more easily influenced by popular opinion and popular culture, parroting the same things and opinions with no rationale, education, or thought process of their own – the problem is popular is increasingly idiotic.

   I have no problems with opinions as long as they are backed up by individual thought. It’s just not kewl.

   RB
8. Jason D 01.26.10 / 11am

   RB,

   Everyone here agreed that fake film edges are bad form.

   This is the end. It is it’s own punishment. No reason to get bent.

   I could see this working somewhat from a humor perspective in that a completely over-the-top digital image have film borders, say in the case of parody or as a play on a time period.

   It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but this isn’t really imitation. It’s the automotive equivalent to putting a Ferrari body kit on the old Pontiac Fiero.

   Sure there’s a lot of effort, and it’s even passably funny when done tongue-in-cheek, but to try to pass it off as serious or “authentic” is wrong, no matter if the Ferrari emblem is real.

   To paraphrase the great Rodney Dangerfield:

   “You won’t get no respect!!!”
9. RB 01.26.10 / 11am

   Jason,

   I hear you – most of what I get on about is hyperbole. Anyway…

   One of the funniest things I ever saw was around 1986. At the time I was a street racer for most of my income (don’t ask). I was pretty good at it and was bringing in like $4K for a couple of nights work every month. I was super serious about it and my ride was an old camaro (The good body style – like the one in better off dead) that I jambed a 427 in and did all the blue printing myself. Bottom line it was street legal and did 10.4′s in the quarter very consistently and that was with traction issues given my trap speeds.

   The guys that I took the most money from was IROC-Z owners.

   Here is the funny part – I was driving around one day and saw a guy driving a clapped out 4 door slo-po 6 cylinder nova that was a couple different really dull colors and probably not been washed in about 10 years. Guess what he spray painted on the bottom of the doors on both sides ?

   IROC-Z.

   I was I still giggle about it now – I get this guys humor.

   RB

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