The Portland Metro Photographic News

A Guest Commentary by Robert Brummitt

Editor's note:  Robert Brummitt is a PMPN member and a familiar voice in Portland's photographic conversation.  Robert has a love affair with photography and works tirelessly with area youth to ensure that the photographic torch and passion is passed to the next generation.  We appreciate Robert sharing his thoughts with the PMPN community about the current state of photography.

Ok, I’m going to say this right off the bat. We are living in what could possibly be the Third Golden Age of Photography and the best of all times for photographers and fans of the medium. I believe we could be the luckiest generation of photographers since the dawn of photography!

The first golden age began when Mr. George Eastman created the Kodak Company with its slogan of “you press the button and we do the rest”.  Kodak was quickly followed by other photography manufacturers and materials. This entrepreneurial boom opened the realm of photography to the public to make it possible for anyone to explore their own their world with a camera.  It’s this product vision and the resulting movement that gave birth to expressive photography.

The second golden age was entered when the masters Stieglitz, Adams, Weston, Cunningham and others began to produce photographs that made the public stop, look and think. These creative leaders promoted and led the way. They demonstrated that photography was a true art form equal to painting sculpture and the like. Photographic galleries, museum collections, education systems and the commerce of photography soon followed.  The photo-news magazines such as Life, Look and others came on to the scene with photographers like Lange, Bourke-White, Smith and Capa who showed us the human experience and introduced previously closed societies to the countless varied cultures in our world.

So why do I believe we are living and working in the Third Golden Age of Photography?  Digital.

Digital photography and electronic venues have opened new doors and expanded our choices! We now have more photographic choices than ever before, and we should sample them all.

Digital Gives Us Choices

Today, we have the choice of working with an analog or digital camera, the choice of working in a darkroom or on a computer or a combination of the two.  Having these options affords us new tools of expression. This is not only a good thing. It’s a GREAT thing!  Just a decade ago, few of these choices existed. It’s all due to the advent of digital imaging and the waning influence of film-based photography. The result has been an explosion of creative photography and new voices in the photographic conversation.

Yes, there is the occasional backlash to digital photography because of the loss of materials, such as Kodakchrome and Polaroid films that we enjoyed and were integral to photography’s development. I know many who have said, “Digital photography is not ‘True’ photography.”  I quite disagree. But,that’s a topic for a later discussion.

I have also witnessed the resurgence of Alternative Processes. People are looking for other ways to create work without using a digital camera or a computer altogether. They have revived processes that have been absent for 100 years or more. The traditional black & white or color prints are making way for Platinum, Bromoils and Collodion-Gum-Platinumprints which give us, the viewers, even more to enjoy.

Digital has also given the novice a chance to experience photography and a new outlet for expressing themselves. I volunteer at a local high school photography class. As I stroll among the students, I often ask, “What camera are you using?” Cell phone was the most common answer. I thought yikes this was a whole new tool to try. So I started to “really” use my cell phone for some of my photography. I have to tell you that its been fun, and isn’t that why we’re all in it?

My cell phone has a 3.2 megapixel sensor. That’s more than my first digital point and shoot camera! The cell phone camera reduces photography to its most basic component – sight. No f/stops. No shutter speeds. No tripods. No flash. And no extras gadgets. It’s just the cell phone, my subject and me. Pure expression. Ruth Bernhard would say, “Today is the day to go out, photograph and create."  My cell phone is always with me, so I have followed Ruth’s advice with photographically pleasing results. Try it. 

There is another benefit we are experiencing since the rise of digital photography and the computer. We can immediately see and share our work. In days gone by, you had to print, mount, mat and frame your work for others to see what you were up to. If you were fortunate, you might be offered a show at a gallery or local café.

Today, we can still mount and display our work, but we can also use the Internet. We can join websites like this one! Many are free, and I would look for those first. Why pay a site to show work?  I belong to many photo-oriented websites. I share my work on some of these.  What I appreciate the most is the ability to view the work of others.  Work that, in the past, I would have never seen otherwise.  I can also share my thoughts of what is happening on the local photo scene. I have instant access to all sorts of sites that share images, biographies, discussions and a wealth of information – right at my fingertips. More importantly, I can network with hundreds of like-minded photographers. I have struck up conversations and discussions with people from around the globe. I can also share images with friends and family via e-mail as I’m sure you do as well.  The e-mail account has become the 21st century’s version of the “grandmother with wallet full of grandkids pictures!”

I continue to print, mount, mat and frame my best work. But for a great deal of my picture sharing, I find it much less expensive to make my selections, resize, reformat, attach photographs and send it to anyone on the world.  And, I get a lot more people seeing my work and providing feedback!

If you don’t wish to print your work one print at a time, consider doing a collection. There are several companies that afford photographers the tools necessary to create and self-publish their own books --online. With companies like Blurb or Lulu you can design your own coffee tablebook or publish a series. It will still cost you, but probably not as much as a photo exhibit.  It’s certainly easier today to create and share a book of your art than say a portfolio of 16x20 prints.

Yes, I believe we are living in a great time for photographers and for the craft.  When could you ever before pursued your own interests, choose to work in one or more fields, and produce photographic art with greater ease. It so much easier to take amazing images, to share our work and to view the accomplishments of others that we must be entering a new age of photography -- the Third Golden Age of Photography.

So, let’s look to the future, and where it will lead us. What do you think? If you are reading this then maybe I’m singing to the choir. Tell me if you agree or not. I’d like to hear your thoughts.