I was listening to the TackSharp podcast [ref]Specifically TackSharp episode four[/ref] while I was doing the dishes [ref]Doing the dishes is generally the only time I have enough time and concentration to listen to podcasts[/ref] and James Duncan Davidson said something that made me think “Yeah, right on! I’m going to blog that.” [ref]I don’t usually say or think “right on”, but they have such American accents[/ref]
When I talk about photography I tend to talk about photography with a capital ‘P’, you know that art thing. But just as valuable as that big art thing is the ability to capture memories and capture points in time and capture your family, capture your friends and what not.
Four by six is such a great way to share that with the people you love in your life and be able to take those memories and go forward. That’s as an important aspect of photography as anything else I can think of really. I mean, you lose everything in the world, what’s the one thing you keep on yourself or in your wallet? It’s a little picture. Those are so important.
We actually had a discussion on New Year’s Eve about how digital photography has destroyed the art of photography [ref]You guys know I don’t think it has at all. You should also know that I think film and digital photography are rather different arts.[/ref]. Where once you only had 24 or 36 shots on your roll of film, you now have almost unlimited shots and your good shots are just a fluke because if you keep snapping away you’re bound to get something decent.
If you’ve taken a roll of film lately or looked through your films from back in the day, you know that digital photography hasn’t pooped on photography ability. Crap shots were just as crap back then as they are now. One of the things digital photography has done is make photography more accessible in terms of money, time and availability to people who want to capture memories. Sure, some people might be able to collect enough fluke shots to convince someone they’re an artist, but on the whole capturing memories, family and friends is important. Probably more important to more people than photography with a capital ‘P’.
This is so true. With most of the portraits and family photos that I take, they will request 4 x 6 prints of all the shots.
It seems so much more special sharing something that you can physically hold, and pass around.