Re: All things technical, not

[Russ Rosener <rrosener@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I just wanted to post a reply to Larry's well reasoned post. Good job! I've
been reading a lot of books lately on quantum mechanics and the possibility
of time travel. At a certain point even quantum physics break down and
cannot explain the behavior of certain particles. At that point imagination
and even mysticism take over to explain what might be happening.
Infrared photography (and it's cousin U.V.) seem to sit on that point in
the Photography World. After all, I.R. and U.V. Imaging were first intended
as technical scientific imaging tools. At some point they crossed out of
that into the realm or creative imagination. Maybe that's what's so vexing
and rewarding about I.R. Photography. It's difficult to predict exactly
what will happen to the film in various light & shooting situations. I.R.
Photography is much more like working with 19th century materials in the
19th century. There is an amount of control, but at some point a departure
is reached and chance and serendipity take over. Humans need that on a very
basic level. ( See the new film "Gattaca" for a beautiful illustration of
this need.) So I.R. Photography is about much more than just "photography".
In my few years of teaching, I've found that the reasons students become
photography majors are about everything BUT technical aspects of the
medium. They recognize and we teach them that learning to be technically
proficient is important, but only the beginning. So I say let the list
dream on and veer off in whatever meandering it may take. Eventually it
will come right back to the interest we all share in this amazing I.R.,
U.V. stuff.

P.S. This past Friday night on the U.S. TV show "Millenium" the "Squirrel
Nut Zippers" popped up!
If anybody wants details email me off-list.

Russ Rosener
Washington University, St. Louis.
http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~rrosener/


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