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Are We Photographers?
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Aug 28, 2018 13:14:23   #
mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
Sure, but Minnie's point (or maybe I should just say mine as I would hate to be mis-remembering or misquoting) was that we shouldn't not shoot something just because conditions aren't perfect. We might find gemstones from the, um, ah losing the simile I'm afraid At any rate, it's the description of "to harvest" that I liked so much.

I agree. "Harvest" is an apt term for what we do. Painters, architects, composers, writers, create something new out of their imaginations (based on different degrees of reality). Photographers (the ones striving for some level of "art") create an interpretation, a unique view, of reality -- attempting to make something new out of what exists, based on their personal or talented way of seeing. This also takes imagination and creativity.

Film vs digital, printed and framed vs posted online, are just part of the range of expression -- technical choices -- not exclusionary categories -- it's all photography.

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Aug 28, 2018 13:26:26   #
kenievans Loc: Dallas
 
Silverman wrote:
Yes, for example, when a Farmer Harvests his Wheat, Corn, or other Crop, he first must "Harvest" his Crop then ususally "Stores-it" in a Barn or other place it will stay safe, then sells it to a Store.
So, Now we as Digital Age Photographer's Produce our Photos, then we Harvest them off of our SD or CF Cards, then we Store them into our Computers where they hopefully be safe and sound until they are needed by ourselves or a potenial customer who pays for our "Crop of Photos".
Yes, for example, when a Farmer Harvests his Wheat... (show quote)


"Crop of photos"


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Aug 28, 2018 13:34:43   #
tjim Loc: Far Northern California
 
Silverman wrote:
Yes, for example, when a Farmer Harvests his Wheat, Corn, or other Crop, he first must "Harvest" his Crop then ususally "Stores-it" in a Barn or other place it will stay safe, then sells it to a Store.
So, Now we as Digital Age Photographer's Produce our Photos, then we Harvest them off of our SD or CF Cards, then we Store them into our Computers where they hopefully be safe and sound until they are needed by ourselves or a potenial customer who pays for our "Crop of Photos".
Yes, for example, when a Farmer Harvests his Wheat... (show quote)


Yep! I'm an old 6th generation farmer. My ancestors used scythes and harvested a very few acres a day. They were still farmers. They then went to horse drawn scythes and harvested a few more acres. Then to horse drawn cutter reels and harvested more. And on and on. When I was young we had a tractor drawn "combine" with a "huge" 8 foot header and could do a, whopping, 20 acres a day....on a long, itchy, hot day. Now our combine cuts 30 feet in a pass and can harvest 150 acres in a day with a/c and stereo. We are still farmers.
If one takes a photograph one is a photographer. Howeve, a pro photog might rather call them a "snapper".

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Aug 28, 2018 13:40:06   #
rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
 
Just like the others who have brought up this same discussion point, believe what you want, it doesn't change reality. A camera, regardless of medium, is a device for recording images, taking photographs. The person operating the camera is the photographer.
If you really want to analyze it, film is a collection of protons, neutrons and electrons.

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Aug 28, 2018 14:40:16   #
DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area
 
safeman wrote:
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much time on their hands.

Should we continue to call ourselves photographers? Photographers record analog images on film, process and print the images creating photographs and if you are a professional sell these little pieces of reality as a source of income. I suggest that we have become collectors and manipulators of electrons. For many, if not most of us, the great majority of our electron collections remain just that--electrons. I sent my last roll of film in for processing and what did I get back, a link to a web site so I could retrieve my electron collections. I have begun thinking of my images stored on my computer as Electron Collections and the prints stored in my photo albums and files as pictures. Electron collections only become images when they are viewed or printed.

Before I change my mind I am going to send this and see what happens
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much ti... (show quote)


I'm afraid I don't share your definition of a photographer. To me, a photographer is someone who makes pictures.

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Aug 28, 2018 14:48:03   #
James56 Loc: Nashville, Tennessee
 
rmorrison1116 wrote:
Just like the others who have brought up this same discussion point, believe what you want, it doesn't change reality. A camera, regardless of medium, is a device for recording images, taking photographs. The person operating the camera is the photographer.
If you really want to analyze it, film is a collection of protons, neutrons and electrons.


Exactly, everything is made up of Atoms, and atoms contain the three elements you've described including "electrons". So in a sense, he's collecting electrons no matter what the medium is, paper or digital.

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Aug 28, 2018 15:01:51   #
Charles P Loc: Southern Central NY State
 
safeman wrote:
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much time on their hands.

Should we continue to call ourselves photographers? Photographers record analog images on film, process and print the images creating photographs and if you are a professional sell these little pieces of reality as a source of income. I suggest that we have become collectors and manipulators of electrons. For many, if not most of us, the great majority of our electron collections remain just that--electrons. I sent my last roll of film in for processing and what did I get back, a link to a web site so I could retrieve my electron collections. I have begun thinking of my images stored on my computer as Electron Collections and the prints stored in my photo albums and files as pictures. Electron collections only become images when they are viewed or printed.

Before I change my mind I am going to send this and see what happens
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much ti... (show quote)


I used to think that the word photography should only be used to describe the old chemical processes, and that what most of us are doing now should be considered digital imaging. But having learned that the word photography literally means writing (or painting) with light, I now feel that the word photography can be used for both methods. We're simply using a reusable sensor instead of film for the canvas. So yes, we're still photographers. And I really don't miss all of those stinky chemicals.

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Aug 28, 2018 15:10:17   #
bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana
 
Photography is "painting with light" As long as that's what we're doing, whether it ends up "painted" on the screen, or on paper or canvas, you are still doing the same thing, just with different tools. Before you refer to film, it's not really that different, you weren't "painting" then either, it was just a different technology.

The sad thing is, the photographers out there that don't ever print.

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Aug 28, 2018 16:42:34   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
safeman wrote:
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much time on their hands.

Should we continue to call ourselves photographers? Photographers record analog images on film, process and print the images creating photographs and if you are a professional sell these little pieces of reality as a source of income. I suggest that we have become collectors and manipulators of electrons. For many, if not most of us, the great majority of our electron collections remain just that--electrons. I sent my last roll of film in for processing and what did I get back, a link to a web site so I could retrieve my electron collections. I have begun thinking of my images stored on my computer as Electron Collections and the prints stored in my photo albums and files as pictures. Electron collections only become images when they are viewed or printed.

Before I change my mind I am going to send this and see what happens
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much ti... (show quote)


Do you really want to go back to painting on the walls of caves? I wouldn't lose any sleep over this one.

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Aug 28, 2018 16:45:25   #
Tronjo Loc: Canada, BC
 
safeman wrote:
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much time on their hands.

Should we continue to call ourselves photographers? Photographers record analog images on film, process and print the images creating photographs and if you are a professional sell these little pieces of reality as a source of income. I suggest that we have become collectors and manipulators of electrons. For many, if not most of us, the great majority of our electron collections remain just that--electrons. I sent my last roll of film in for processing and what did I get back, a link to a web site so I could retrieve my electron collections. I have begun thinking of my images stored on my computer as Electron Collections and the prints stored in my photo albums and files as pictures. Electron collections only become images when they are viewed or printed.

Before I change my mind I am going to send this and see what happens
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much ti... (show quote)


I don't see a real difference: Before being developed any photo emulsion medium, film included, contains only a latent image. The difference is that the film is being developed only once, while a file containing latent image can be "developed" infinite number of times using infinite variations of the development process. Immediately after the shot though, both media contain only latent images.

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Aug 28, 2018 18:02:29   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
I think we are (hopefully) photographers whether we use film of digital, BUT until printed, it is a virtual, not material object. At the moment the power goes off, the digital images are essentially gone (until and if the power resumes), but the print is something we can hold and touch and like many of the B&W prints hanging on my walls, they will be around for at least a hundred years (if printed and archived correctly).

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Aug 28, 2018 19:40:22   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
DWU2 wrote:
I'm afraid I don't share your definition of a photographer. To me, a photographer is someone who makes pictures.


Thank you. If I wanted to harvest, I'll go out to the tomato garden.

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Aug 28, 2018 21:26:17   #
jaimeblackwell Loc: Lewiston, Maine
 
I capture moments in time in order to create an Illusion that might cast an image in someones mind that they would remember as a photograph....... Whats our excuse?

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Aug 28, 2018 21:38:43   #
jcboy3
 
safeman wrote:
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much time on their hands.

Should we continue to call ourselves photographers? Photographers record analog images on film, process and print the images creating photographs and if you are a professional sell these little pieces of reality as a source of income. I suggest that we have become collectors and manipulators of electrons. For many, if not most of us, the great majority of our electron collections remain just that--electrons. I sent my last roll of film in for processing and what did I get back, a link to a web site so I could retrieve my electron collections. I have begun thinking of my images stored on my computer as Electron Collections and the prints stored in my photo albums and files as pictures. Electron collections only become images when they are viewed or printed.

Before I change my mind I am going to send this and see what happens
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much ti... (show quote)


I'm a photographer. Raw files are like negatives. JPG files are like slides. Computer/phone screens are like slide projectors. Prints are like...prints. Making money at it is hard.

So I don't have an issue with calling myself a photographer. I don't know why you would, but I welcome you to call your self an Electron Collector. Cuts down on the competition.

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Aug 28, 2018 22:37:43   #
mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey
 
safeman wrote:
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much time on their hands.

Should we continue to call ourselves photographers? Photographers record analog images on film, process and print the images creating photographs and if you are a professional sell these little pieces of reality as a source of income. I suggest that we have become collectors and manipulators of electrons. For many, if not most of us, the great majority of our electron collections remain just that--electrons. I sent my last roll of film in for processing and what did I get back, a link to a web site so I could retrieve my electron collections. I have begun thinking of my images stored on my computer as Electron Collections and the prints stored in my photo albums and files as pictures. Electron collections only become images when they are viewed or printed.

Before I change my mind I am going to send this and see what happens
Weird thoughts come to old people with too much ti... (show quote)

Most of the earliest photographers and most photographers since then are not professionals. Therefore earning a living by taking photographs is not the definition of being a photographer. Early photographers did not use film, they used emulations on glass plates, or even metal plates, so your assertion that by not using film we are not photographers is incorrect. Photography has to do with the manipulation of light. How does the manipulation of electrons not qualify? Photography literally means drawing with light, which is exactly what we're doing with modern digital cameras. If you don't consider yourself a photographer that's your business, but most of us certainly are.

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