History Reading

Hard to believe Vannevar Bush’s article was written in 1945, he hits on some very accurate points that have helped shape what we now know as technology. He points out the importance of machines with interchangeable parts like the typewriter or camera- constructed with reliability. He says we have entered an age of “cheap devices of great reliability and something is bound to come of it”. As a photographer it is evident his predictions came true- there is a far greater access to photo making tools (iphones, computer webcams, and other cheap and usable tools). This greater access has abounded in a greater pool of information. The process of developing film and exposure and shutter speed are becoming lost arts due to the user-friendly devices. I personally love to revert back to the process of black and white photography to rediscover the magic found in developing an image. Featured below is a photo of a plant I took with a 35mm camera with black and white film that I developed myself then brought into a dark room and adjusted exposure time. Time seems to matter more within the process of mechanical photography. In the digital age a photo can be snapped, edited, and shared within a matter of seconds. It would take at least and hour to fully develop and image taken with film.