Picture Of The Year

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PEOPLE: 2nd PLACE Dreaming by Joyce Swedes

I was shooting family portraits recently and a toddler in the group was shooting, too, using one of those disposable film cameras. He would snap a shot, look at the back of the camera, scrunch his eyes in puzzlement, and then repeat the process.

Finally, he toddled over to his mother and asked, “Where’s the picture?” “No, honey,” she explained. “It isn’t that kind of camera. You have to wait to see the pictures.”

Welcome to the Digital Age, little man. We didn’t always have it this good! Once upon a time, before computers and microprocessors, we had to wait for our photos.

Photography has always been a unique blend of art and science. The basic artistic elements are largely unchanged – composition, light, shadow, color, motion, shape, form – but boy, has the science changed. No more fumbling with film in the middle of a shoot. No more smelly chemicals and dusty darkrooms. 

Read the entire article in the February 2008 issue

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