Savageduck
On 2013-12-06 08:18:06 +0000, Eric Stevens <eric.stevens@sum.co.nz>said:

Eric Stevens
On Thu, 5 Dec 2013 20:55:46 -0800, Savageduck <savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com>wrote:

Savageduck
On 2013-12-06 04:26:42 +0000, PeterN <peter.newnospam@verizon.net>said:

PeterN
On 12/5/2013 10:58 PM, nospam wrote:

nospam
In article <l7rhm701ngv@news6.newsguy.com>, PeterN <peter.newnospam@verizon.net>wrote:

PeterN
Is it your claim that in the film days, a good photo artist did not have to understand the how and why of film. He did not have to understand masking with film, the effect of various chemicals, and light sources on things such as contrast, and grain?

nospam
my claim is that in film days, knowing how and being proficient in darkroom work was not required.

PeterN
Not require for what. Snapshots and i've been there images, you are right. Is it your claim that a film photographer could produce art without a thorough understanding of what he was doing?

Savageduck
I thought we were talking photography, not art. Photo journalists and documentarians do not consider themselves artists, they are photographers. ...and then there are the snapshot shooters who can on occasion be accidental artists, or documentarians.

Eric Stevens
Just as long as it is clear: you are confining yourself to that class of photography.

Savageduck
Why? We are talking about photography as a particular tool to make a visual record of any event, object or person. esoteric aspects of art are subjective and irrelevant in the face of the plodding technical steps of capturing light on some medium and putting into the hands of the viewer. The operator of that light capturing machine has little need for knowledge of the intermediate steps when there is somebody who can deal with that. The quality of those results was also irrelevant, witness the millions of awful snapshots and Kodachromes. ...and it seems there are quite a few folks who are nostalgic for photographic incompetence, I give you Instagram.

There is a reason Polaroid was right for its time & successful. There were a bunch of folks who did not want to deal with the intermediary steps or chemistry.

nospam
some photographers did do their own darkroom work, but as i said, it wasn't required. many pro photographers worked with a pro lab who took care of the details.