Let Us Create More and Print Fewer

The statements put forth by my dear friend Dan concerning the importance of an image has gotten me a bit rattled. On the one hand I completely disagree with him, and have always found the strength of an image based on its originality and physical self. On the other hand, someone with a camera in the right place at the right time surely can take an image of great importance or significance. These types of images are those who's power comes with the propagation of the image through society; the more eyes to see it, the more value it attains. But...

Consider a great painting, and the value one gets from viewing it in person. You can, of course, see a representation of the painting in a book or online, but in such a situation you are most likely enjoying the subject matter or the painting's place in history. What you can enjoy in looking at a representation of a painting is everything except the artist's hand in the creation process. You cannot fully recognize the talent of the artist, his brush strokes or painting technique or color pallet. When you are sitting with a book in your lap you cannot fully see the artist. Standing three feet away from a Rembrandt, you not only see all of the artist's skills, but you can feel the history of the artist just by taking in the physical specimen that is the painting. Yes, you can be entertained by simply looking at the Rembrandt reproduction, but what if your interest lies in being entertained by the painter's hand? This is how I fell when viewing a painting and these same sentiments can and should be attributed to viewing original photographs. I can be visually satisfied by any reproduction of Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs, but for me to arrive at a much higher level of joy, I desire to see Cartier-Bresson's actual handiwork (in a word, his print). Even viewing an original image by the photographer, printed by another, doesn't completely do it for me (however more perfected the other's print might be considered).

How can an original Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph be of even more value to me? The answer lies in knowing that there is but only a small number of prints ever to have been created by the artist. This is taken for granted with painters, yet seen by many as foolish for photographers. Yes, the negative can be looked at as specifically designed for reproduction, but what are photographers afraid of when the prospect arrives to create but only a handful of photographs from one negative and then destroy the image's source? This should be seen as placing more value on the actual images created (and I am definitely not talking about monetary value, as most of us know the survival on photographic sales, edition limited or not is left to the truly famous and/or the dead). The value increased by the limited number of crafted photographs is a value of knowing that those few pieces of photographic paper are alone in their singularity. Any reproduction in books or magazines can be enjoyed, but with the same limitations as goes to the painting's reproduction, thus placing all the more value on witnessing a crafted photograph first hand. This is the point of galleries and museums and of buying art, to view the artist, not just what the image represents. Of course all of this is always dependant upon the greatness of the picture. No matter how long and hard you work on an image, if the picture doesn’t do it, then it just doesn’t do it.

I am not trying to be a painter, and I am not trying to be dismissive and close off photography. I just believe in the power of an image (which, said for the millionth time, includes the process) and that power being intensified by originality and the sense of an artist. The reason for becoming anti-digital (if you will) is that I believe you lose these strengths too easily, and with the masses in society knowledgeable of digital much more so than hand created photography, I feel that my need is to attempt to create a difference between the styles, and in doing so bring knowledge to the type of photography I find of value.