Please pass the film!

[Curt]

I say we invade Rochester, NY and get a group shot of everyone in front of the Kodak HQ, taken with an old Cirkut camera, and then send the Kodak execs copies of the image showing them how many film users there still are out there.

That's a great idea, but instead of one camera I think all of those with old Kodaks, Deardorfs, Seneca, you name it, all large format cameras etc. should bring them. It would definitely be the most number of large format film cameras taking photographs in history.

Get the media informed early and really make a statement, don't just show up but really make it a historical event, one that won't soon be forgot and will be in the history books. An event of this type could be the pivotal rally for all film users.

How many Museums, Universities, private corporations and individuals have photographic wings or galleries? This surely can't be the end of "REAL" photography. There is no way I would consider a digital negative or an inkjet print real, just as I wouldn't consider a printed poster a painting.

I don't believe that enough is said and done in favor of film, even though a lot has been said and done here on this forum. You have to ask your self "What would Ansel Adams do" I am sure that he wouldn't just give up without a fight. Do we need an advertising agency to speak for us as a whole? I don't think just having more magazines are the solution. What do you think is needed to further the use of film and promote traditional photography?

Quote from The Flying Camera. Thank you for getting me to think.
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[Jordan.K]

I'd attend such an event.........

You're correct about not needing another magazine. As much as I enjoy the magazines, I can't imagine that they do much in the way of keeping the companies making film or paper. I wish I could propose some sort of solution. I buy film and I buy paper....... I'd do more if there were more I were I aware of to do.

 

[Bill Dobbs]

Kodak quits B&W

That's a great idea, but instead of one camera I think all of those with old Kodaks, Deardorfs, Seneca, you name it, all large format cameras etc. should bring them. It would definitely be the most number of large format film cameras taking photographs in history.

Get the media informed early and really make a statement, don't just show up but really make it a historical event, one that won't soon be forgot and will be in the history books. An event of this type could be the pivotal rally for all film users.

How many Museums, Universities, private corporations and individuals have photographic wings or galleries? This surely can't be the end of "REAL" photography. There is no way I would consider a digital negative or an inkjet print real, just as I wouldn't consider a printed poster a painting.

I don't believe that enough is said and done in favor of film, even though a lot has been said and done here on this forum. You have to ask your self "What would Ansel Adams do" I am sure that he wouldn't just give up without a fight. Do we need an advertising agency to speak for us as a whole? I don't think just having more magazines are the solution. What do you think is needed to further the use of film and promote traditional photography?

Quote from The Flying Camera. Thank you for getting me to think.
__________________

Kodak got out of the B&W business because there was not enough demand for their product. It's that simple. It might be that their expectations for profit were too high (compared with profitability on the digital side), that their overhead is too large and cut into the profits, that in a falling market purchasers opt for the highest quality (as prices usually fall too). Whatever the reason, a few companies have quit the business and it represents a sizeable loss to conventional photographers.
My concern is that the remianing producers of b&w materials continue to slip out of the scene. As options (i.e a variety of products) slowly disappear I wonder if a strategy could be developed to ensure that our needs are met for the forseeable future.
A strategy could:

• 
  Have events like the one described above. Awesome idea.
  Encourage joint marketing by producers to promote b&w conventional photography.
  Set up competitions for conventional b&w only.
  Support magazines that focus on b&w and/or conventional photography.
  Write articles for photography magazines.
  Set up galleries (internet, but also real ones too) that specialize in B&W conventional photography.
  Write articles for newspapers.
  Form a group to carry out the above.
  Anything that causes people to consider buying film-based photographs over digital ones due to aesthetic preference.

As a personal comittment to sustain the industry that supplies us with high-quality products for film and paper at an affordable cost I intend to increase my photographic output by marketing my work more agressively (as opposed to casual sales) under the principle that film and paper photography has a special aesthetic quality that is very difficult to obtain in digital media.
If all analog photographers do the same it will increase the demand for products and keep the current manufacturers in business longer.