Comments on: Eric William Carroll: Human Error http://www.shanelavalette.com/journal/2007/11/14/eric-william-carroll-human-error/ Photographs Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:42:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Federico http://www.shanelavalette.com/journal/2007/11/14/eric-william-carroll-human-error/#comment-1776 Federico Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:45:07 +0000 http://www.shanelavalette.com/journal/2007/11/14/eric-william-carroll-human-error/#comment-1776 <p>Stephanie's comment got me to think along these lines: If digital (that is, the absence -or relative absence- of "process") had been an option in 1839 we would've never had "process" in the first place. The paradox is that the process was there in the first place because we -humankind- couldn't figure out how to do what we wanted to do (and what we can do now) without process. So the process, in the end, originally necessary, has lately become sort of a complicated artifice, redundant, inessential and contrived. Our problem is that, along the long and winding road to make things easier, we learned to love the process, and the look of its (sometimes unnatural) results (think of black and white, think of super large format where what you get is almost more than what you see with your naked eye). I will cling to large format and I will shoot with film and I will do the "process" as long as is possible (I love to cling to history, especially at a time when the vast majority converts), but that doesn't hide the fact that sometimes I feel the strangeness inherent in embracing a tradition that owes its very existence to shortcomings that no longer exist. Of course, digital is still too expensive at some levels, and hasn't yet overtaken analog in image quality, especially in large formats, but for how long? </p> <p>Sorry Shane, got carried away, nothing to do with the original post...</p> Stephanie’s comment got me to think along these lines: If digital (that is, the absence -or relative absence- of “process”) had been an option in 1839 we would’ve never had “process” in the first place. The paradox is that the process was there in the first place because we -humankind- couldn’t figure out how to do what we wanted to do (and what we can do now) without process. So the process, in the end, originally necessary, has lately become sort of a complicated artifice, redundant, inessential and contrived. Our problem is that, along the long and winding road to make things easier, we learned to love the process, and the look of its (sometimes unnatural) results (think of black and white, think of super large format where what you get is almost more than what you see with your naked eye). I will cling to large format and I will shoot with film and I will do the “process” as long as is possible (I love to cling to history, especially at a time when the vast majority converts), but that doesn’t hide the fact that sometimes I feel the strangeness inherent in embracing a tradition that owes its very existence to shortcomings that no longer exist. Of course, digital is still too expensive at some levels, and hasn’t yet overtaken analog in image quality, especially in large formats, but for how long?

Sorry Shane, got carried away, nothing to do with the original post…

]]> By: Stephanie http://www.shanelavalette.com/journal/2007/11/14/eric-william-carroll-human-error/#comment-1775 Stephanie Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:30:33 +0000 http://www.shanelavalette.com/journal/2007/11/14/eric-william-carroll-human-error/#comment-1775 Wow. I really enjoyed looking at his work on his website. I appreciate the fact that he made work about photography. It makes me sad to look at the "Camera Obscure" work because film and darkroom days are fading. We are loosing the "process". Now with digital, you take it, see it in an instant, and print it from a computer. Where's the process? How do you truly understand photography when the process is fading? I also enjoy his "Human Error" series. Embracing mistakes as something beautiful is really what we all should do. There is no perfection, yet we keep looking for it. Thank you for sharing his work. Wow. I really enjoyed looking at his work on his website. I appreciate the fact that he made work about photography. It makes me sad to look at the “Camera Obscure” work because film and darkroom days are fading. We are loosing the “process”. Now with digital, you take it, see it in an instant, and print it from a computer. Where’s the process? How do you truly understand photography when the process is fading? I also enjoy his “Human Error” series. Embracing mistakes as something beautiful is really what we all should do. There is no perfection, yet we keep looking for it. Thank you for sharing his work.

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