Sally Mann switches to digital from 8x10.

[Cholentpot]

She has a full darkroom at her farm. She also sometimes does wet plate. So she's fully capable of doing everything wet process that she wants to.

Sooo...is cost the factor here? Did she get rid of the dark room?

Look, if she wanted to go digital that's fine. Nothing wrong with it, but waking up in 2026 and saying 'Huh, this is expensive now' sounds kind of dimwitted. Oh really, you just figured it out? Welcome to earth.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Sooo...is cost the factor here? Did she get rid of the dark room?

Look, if she wanted to go digital that's fine. Nothing wrong with it, but waking up in 2026 and saying 'Huh, this is expensive now' sounds kind of dimwitted. Oh really, you just figured it out? Welcome to earth.

It really hit home for me soon after I retired (last June), and got my first pension cheque.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Sooo...is cost the factor here? Did she get rid of the dark room?

Look, if she wanted to go digital that's fine. Nothing wrong with it, but waking up in 2026 and saying 'Huh, this is expensive now' sounds kind of dimwitted. Oh really, you just figured it out? Welcome to earth.

Well, she's had major grants before that helped cover those costs. And she has good gallery sales figures to help subsidize it too. I don't know why she suddenly realized it was expensive, since it has been getting more expensive for a decade now.

 

[Chan Tran]

She said $12 for a shot of 8x10 it seems cheap to me.

 

[Pieter12]

Well, she's had major grants before that helped cover those costs. And she has good gallery sales figures to help subsidize it too. I don't know why she suddenly realized it was expensive, since it has been getting more expensive for a decade now.

Grants may not be as plentiful as in the past. And with the recent furor over her work displayed in Texas, it could be the sales are not doing well either. Who knows? Maybe she has major medical bills--her husband has MS and has not been able to work for years now. Maybe all the chemistry she has been using for collodion has finally caught up to her. Or maybe she has just now found that she can use some of her 8x10 lenses with a digital rig and likes the look. It does not have to be the same, a new stage now.

 

[Cholentpot]

It really hit home for me soon after I retired (last June), and got my first pension cheque.

Ain't getting no pension when I'm done. In fact I don't think anyone in my generation is getting a pension of any sort. Enjoy it. I'll be working until I'm dead.

Well, she's had major grants before that helped cover those costs. And she has good gallery sales figures to help subsidize it too. I don't know why she suddenly realized it was expensive, since it has been getting more expensive for a decade now.

Do you think she ever paid attention to the costs or just YOLOed it? She reminds me of a lot of people I know, they never had to fill a tank of gas since 1997. One day they're forced to fill up and they have a shell shocked look on their face. $3.25 a gallon? And then I inform them it was closer to $6 at some point. Some people just float on a different plane of existence.

Film is expensive, but so are fountain pens, top of the line digital cameras and lenses, guitars and every other hobby or art making tool. Taking digital photos in the long run isn't that much cheaper if you factor in programs, computers, storage, upgrades etc...

 

[bjorke]

She's been using digital one way or another for some time, an old friend of mine (and dedicated film shooter) has helped her with digital printing, he got an appreciative call-out in her most-recent book.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Ain't getting no pension when I'm done. In fact I don't think anyone in my generation is getting a pension of any sort. Enjoy it. I'll be working until I'm dead.



Do you think she ever paid attention to the costs or just YOLOed it? She reminds me of a lot of people I know, they never had to fill a tank of gas since 1997. One day they're forced to fill up and they have a shell shocked look on their face. $3.25 a gallon? And then I inform them it was closer to $6 at some point. Some people just float on a different plane of existence.

Film is expensive, but so are fountain pens, top of the line digital cameras and lenses, guitars and every other hobby or art making tool. Taking digital photos in the long run isn't that much cheaper if you factor in programs, computers, storage, upgrades etc...

Many get pensions, including Gen Zeds, who are entering fields such as education, nursing, etc.

 

[Milpool]

Correctamundo. Unless you’re a politician.

Ain't getting no pension when I'm done. In fact I don't think anyone in my generation is getting a pension of any sort. Enjoy it. I'll be working until I'm dead.

 

[MattKing]

Many get pensions, including Gen Zeds, who are entering fields such as education, nursing, etc.

Plus of course the public pensions that all Canadians pay into if they are employed or have self employed income.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Plus of course the public pensions that all Canadians pay into if they are employed or have self employed income.

Once those kick in, maybe I'll be able to buy some 8x10 film heh heh heh

 

[warden]

Do you think she ever paid attention to the costs or just YOLOed it?

In her recent book she shared pics of receipts: she tracked every penny as a younger artist, and I imagine those habits are still present today.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Sometimes it's just healthy to switch off and do something else. She also used digital for a book she published on a famous artist friend of hers
A camera is a tool. A box with a lens or a pinhole..

 

[Cholentpot]

In her recent book she shared pics of receipts: she tracked every penny as a younger artist, and I imagine those habits are still present today.

Ok, interesting. Another piece of the puzzle falls into place.

 

[Pieter12]

Puzzle?

 

[Cholentpot]

Puzzle?

The puzzle that is Sally Mann

 

[Pieter12]

The puzzle that is Sally Mann

She seems no more a puzzle than anyone else. Maybe even less so. Quite forthright.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I wonder how many artists are still doing even BW darkroom prints. I hate to admit that I've been scanning and printing my large format work with a Canon Pro-1100. The prints are actually pretty marvelous. I have a beautiful 8x10 Kienzle enlarger with an LED head but no time to set up a darkroom and bang out prints.

 

[Peter Schrager]

I wonder how many artists are still doing even BW darkroom prints. I hate to admit that I've been scanning and printing my large format work with a Canon Pro-1100. The prints are actually pretty marvelous. I have a beautiful 8x10 Kienzle enlarger with an LED head but no time to set up a darkroom and bang out prints.

actually there is quite a resurgence of community darkrooms all over the world
Even in your state there is a coop in Portland that does shows and I believe they also have a darkroom
Even I have admit I've been fooled by digital prints but still prefer silver gelatin..LOL