Thursday, September 13, 2007

Taking The Art Out Of Production.

Digital art.
Shared images.
Cut and paste.
Delete and alter.

I was thinking about it all. I don't disagree with digital art, I *like* digital art. You can do some incredible things and it reaches the masses at a much faster rate.
But...I was looking at an *amazing* photo where the photographer had his model sit for hours, where he had sat for hours, and set up the conditioning impecably so he could get the *perfect* shot. And while it was perfect I couldn't help thinking...all of those hours could have been saved if he had just done it photoshop.
Then I had to scold myself for such an appalling thought.
And then I had to think about digital art versus painting. I know you can get digital paintings printed straight onto large canvases to 'create' a painting. But...you know it's not the same. You know a printed picture isn't the same as layers of paint that have been *applied*. It's not the same as bristles under the layers or brushstrokes in the texture.
But with photography...
a lot of the times it's hard to tell between a real photo and a digital production.
And it just...
it just made me sad for the photographers out there, who invest so much time and skill and effort into things.
It made me sad that somebody could duplicate the effort on a machine and in a small amount of time.
And I *really* hope they don't figure out a way to print paint flakes or brush strokes onto things.
Because then the state of the painting world will be in a pretty sad way as well.

1 comment:

Hope said...

Technology definitely removes the humanity from art. But nothing will *ever* replace the real thing. No printed picture could ever compare to layered paint, an artist's touch...it could actually make REAL art more valued, because rarity denotes worth to a great portion of people.