From Analog to Digital...and Back Again

This Friday I'll be participating in the UK Art Department's PhotoDay. Twelve Georgetown students will be exhibiting works in the Kentucky Next Show. I'm also hoping to see a number of our students in attendance. From my experience last year, I believe it will be a worthwhile event.

Part of my time will be spent doing portfolio reviews, looking at student work and providing feedback and insights. I will also be presenting a lecture on the idea of incorporating both digital and analog methods in the production of photographic work.

This methodology has been on the forefront of my mind in recent days—so much so that I have begun to design ART 120, Photography, around the concept. It has become a large aspect of my own personal practice and has provided me with a relatively unique and definitely refreshing way of working.

I heard a statistic recently that there are 1,000,000 photos uploaded to Facebook every two seconds. This is only a symptom of the ubiquitous nature of digital photography. My main concern is that there are so many people with good digital cameras that great exposure, color, contrast (the technical aspects which used to be difficult to attain) are a given. This makes it all the more difficult for your work to stand out these days. But what's not common are traditional analog methods, whether it be in capture or in print. And the rich (although somewhat brief) history of photographic processes can be accessed to create unique and authentic works.

If you have the opportunity and would like to find out more, I'd certainly love to have you join me for my presentation at PhotoDay; better yet, enroll in ART 120 and invest your time this Friday in attending other great workshops and lectures.

DK

Photo above: Blessed Are Those Who Are Invited (I shot it with a twin lens reflex camera using medium format b&w film, scanned with a film scanner, edited in Photoshop, digital negative printed on Pictorico OHP from an Epson R1800, final print is a toned cyanotype on the back of "recycled" Ilford fiber based paper)