P3D Re: Computer Generated/Enhanced slides

[Derek Gee <73157.2172@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote:
>We were getting complaints from many club members that it wasn't fair
>that the computer generated images were winning so often when they
>(the complainers) had no computer of their own.  I also had to temper
>my own feelings, because I really enjoyed seeing the computer generated
>stereo imagery.  After much debate, we decided that since were are
>a PSA affiliated club, that we should remain consistant with their
>guidelines, and decided to prohibit computer generated/enhanced
>imagery in competitions except for the Contemporary or Open categories.
>So here is an example of how a "new idea" directly caused a change
>to procedures.

Boris replied:
>So here is an example of how a "new idea" is being suppressed by the status quo.

How is this being suppressed when the DSS holds a minimum of two Open
competitions out of nine, and once every couple of years adds a
Contemporary competition too?  We simply no longer allowed individuals
to enter every single competition with a computer generated/enhanced
slide.  Members may still use their computers, but they're still going
to have to use a real camera if they want to win.

>Apparently PSA judges are so hungry for new images, for novelty, that they
>will give high marks to computer imagery despite perhaps technical flaws.
>(I say this because I have seen the computer images that have won the
>awards, and most are technically unimpressive.)

I've seen some wonderfully creative stuff at our meetings from Bill
Battle, and it did well in other PSA competitions also.  I also saw
some CG enhanced prints at one of our print competitions from another
member that were very creative.

>I am unaware of PSA policy with regard to computer images, and am sorry to
>hear that my computer images will apparently never win "Best of Show"
>because of some rule.  I don't understand the thinking behind such a rule.
>As long as the images share a fundamentally common medium (say color
>slides), I see no reason why the creative instrument should factor into the
>judging.  What if the judges couldn't tell the difference between a
>computer generated view and a regular photographic view?

In a Salon, you are perfectly free to enter whatever you wish, computer
generated/enhanced or not.  You just would not be the Helin Trophy
winner at the DSS if you only entered two competitions.  The thinking
behind the rule is that computer generation of images is not photography.
It's graphic art being done on a computer and output to some medium
such as film or video.  As the lines get blurrier and blurrier over
what consitutes a photograph this may change.  Perhaps in the future
there will be no more traditional chemical photography.  For now,
PSA and the DSS has drawn a line as to where and how this new medium
can compete.  And I think that the line that has been drawn is fair
for both traditional photography proponents and the digital folks.

>The user of a 5p Realist has just as much opportunity to create an
>innovative, artistic, deep stereoscopic image as has the user of a
>computer.  Instead of complaining about computers, they should revisit
>their own work with their own camera, and see if something is not missing
>there.

What a crock.  Boris, you know that a computer is capable of
generating imagery that is IMPOSSIBLE to create convincingly with
traditional methods.  That's why Hollywood has chosen to go the
digital route with special effects, and in the near future, the movies
will be recorded digitally and output to film for viewing in theatres.
I always encourage our members to improve their stereography, but if
they have no access to a computer, then they cannot compete with
CG pros like you.  Perhaps in the future the DSS may be different,
but we are still a photography club today.

>This illuminates a modern problem - change.  Unlike in earlier epochs,
>today things change so rapidly that organizations continually face the
>question: shall we embrace change and make the best of it, or shall we
>suppress change, for the benefit of the old-timers.  PSA, what will you do?

You are correct about the pace of change.  PSA is changing, although
slower than some people would like.  I see no reason to throw out the
baby with the bathwater, just for the sake of "change".  Change is
better when managed; otherwise, it can turn into chaos.

                                Derek Gee
                                President
                                Detroit Stereoscopic Society


------------------------------

End of PHOTO-3D Digest 3140
***************************