Digital and Traditional Photography - Best of Both Worlds

Now that traditional photography has been practically replaced by digital, it is difficult to find photographers that still embrace both media. We have fanatics that will probably never switch to digital, claiming it is not real photography, and we also have those who have already forgotten about traditional film usage. One might ponder the necessity of both beliefs.

Luckily there are artists out there who make the best of both worlds. The subtle works of Florian Maier-Aichen show that a true craftsmen of the photographic art will utilize both techniques. The interesting thing about the artist's work is that all rendition of images is very subtle. At first glance images seem real, but at a longer study we begin to realize that what we see actually doesn't exist, that it is a very skillful manipulation of reality.

The artist's night photography, characterized by long exposures, can only be captured with such grey detail on specialized film. Rendition however, is done digitally, where there are hundreds of possibilities readily available in software packages, as oppose to the limited selection in poorly lit darkroom.

Fine art photographers often shoot in film and then only render the images digitally. This gives greater sharpness when printed in large formats. However there are high resolution digital backs available on the market today which can be used on large format cameras with similar results as film.


To see examples of photography by Florian Maier-Aichen visit http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/florian_maier_aichen.htm