re: Dr. T. on standards of quality

["Richard M. Koolish" <koolish@xxxxxxx>]

Dr. T writes:

> I agree with Allan's assesment of the situation.  I am convinced that
> popular/mass "photography" has reached one of the lowest points ever
> experienced in human history, thanks to the P&S cameras and the drug-
> store processing.

> My 7 year old daughter and 70 year old mother can now use a camera.
> But have you seen their pictures?  Standards have reached an alarming
> low.  Fuzzy, badly composed, badly exposed and printed pictures are now
> perfectly acceptable.  There is no taste, no discrimination.

    There's nothing new here, and nothing to worry about either.  When I was 7,
    I had a Brownie box camera and drugstore processing.  My pictures certainly
    didn't look like Ansel Adams'.  What the camera did do was help establish
    an interest in photography that has lasted a long time and has included
    classes with Minor White and now stereo.  The fact is that the average
    picture taker has always pictures that were not of professional quality.
    If anything, the modern point-and-shoot cameras and new negative films
    have vastly improved exposure, focus and color, even if composition still
    suffers.


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