The Digital Print

“Will we one day see the end of all things printed to be replaced by “The Digital Print?”

I still get the occasional call offering a limited time free subscription to a newspaper. I feel pretty sad when I turn this offer down because I cannot remember the last time I really read a newspaper, except perhaps the odd time when I am in a waiting office and see one lying around.

Truth be told, I get [almost] all of my news online, mostly on the Internet, a few times on the TV and radio.

The digital revolution is upon us, the door has turned on its hinges and we are entering a new era where the printed material is the exception rather than the norm. Some will argue that we are already there, but it’s not quite true. Just look around you and you will still see billboards, posters, street and traffic signs, house numbers, even mail boxes — all testament that the printed material is still with us in one form or another. Museums and fine art galleries still predominantly display prints.

Look again and you will also see signs everywhere that things are a changing. Giant electronic display screens glare down at us from tall buildings; LCD TVs displaying ads are now in food courts, museums, the washrooms, and the Indian store where I get my samosas; house numbers glow electronically at night; the Amazon Kindle is more popular than ever (accounting for a rather large and growing percentage of Amazon’s book sales); and the digital picture frame is quietly popping up in every home. Will we eventually see the disappearance of the mailboxes (since all mail may be electronic in nature in the future)? Parking meters are now electronic, accepting a credit card. My point is that anything that used to be printed on paper, metal, wood,… seems to be inexorably shifting to a digital (or electronic) form.

As far as photography is concerned, is it conceivable that in the foreseeable future, people (and fine art galleries) will not be exhibiting pictures as prints anymore but on digital displays? Keeping this in mind, how a picture displays “online” might eventually gain added importance. Those who have mastered the art of displaying online may be the future star photographers. And the digital cameras they use (cheap or expensive) may be judged by how well their images display online.

This is just our impression that there seems to be a shift away from print to digital displays. What do you think? Feel free to agree or disagree. Please leave a comment to let us know what you think about this subject.

Saturday, September 26, 2009 2:37:36 PM - Link

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