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21 UP
The
New Big Picture
Aditya
Arya, a Delhi-based industrial and advertising photographer,
finds doing his job far easier than ever before. Till recently, Arya was
a die-hard 'negative and print' man till he discovered the utility of
digital images. On a recent shoot, a London based client wanted just the
right frame shot. In the past, Arya would expose several rolls and have
the prints sent across by a courier service. It would take a week before
he got a reply. If the client wanted adjustments, he would have to organise
the set up all over again and reshoot the sequence. This time as soon
as Arya made his first exposure, he had his film developed and the prints
scanned. He then e-mailed them to his client who got back to him in an
hour with suggestions. He reshot the frames and again e-mailed it to London.
The clearance came to him in an hour and he had finished his assignment
in half a day. It was then that Arya got a brief glimpse of the future.
What will happen if everyone shooting photographs including amateurs switched
to only recording them as digital images?
Think
Arya's question through as it is important to all of us. Ever since George
Eastman, the American bank clerk, produced an easy to operate camera called
Kodak in 1888 with the catchy slogan " You push the button, we do the
rest" all of us have used the technology to record our lives. Before Eastman's
invention, the camera was as big as a microwave oven, needing a heavy
tripod plus huge glass plates as 'film' and large tanks with chemicals
to develop them. The complete outfit required, as Eastman observed, "
a pack-horse load" which he wasn't willing to carry when he went for a
vacation. So Eastman set about simplifying the paraphernalia required
to take a picture starting with eliminating the glass plates and using
paper rolls instead so as to make as he said: " The camera as convenient
as the pencil and photography an everyday affair."
Eastman
succeeded so well that a 100 odd years later the camera's presence has
become ubiquitous in our homes as has his company, Kodak. Almost every
household has several albums of pictures taken of births and marriages
in their families, picnics and holidays, children's birthday parties and
family gatherings. They serve as a compact history of our lives bringing
a rush of memories whenever such albums are dusted and peered at during
homely reunions. The pictures of us nude at three years old never fails
to embarrass us or bring mirth in others. Now is this all going to change?
Will family albums of pictures soon be only on floppy discs or CDs to
be replayed in front of the computer like a slide show at get togethers?
It
is a question that haunts every company in the photographic business including
its pioneer, Kodak. Almost all of them have come out or coming out with
sophisticated digital cameras that can capture high resolution images
and produce prints that look like photographs even for professionals like
Arya. If the technology gathers momentum, as it is almost certain too,
then neighbourhood "prints in one hour" studios may be wound up. Since
tonnes of pure silver is used in film rolls with the expected drop in
sales there maybe a glut of the metal in the market leading to a steep
drop in silver prices. Several giant companies specialising in making
film rolls and paper such as Kodak, Fuji and Agfa may become shadow of
the past. And virtual images will soon become a reality at home. Say cheese?
(Raj
Chengappa is Deputy Editor, INDIA TODAY and author of Weapons of Peace:
The Secret Story of India's Quest to be a Nuclear Power.) He is based
in Delhi. Write
to Raj Chengappa.)
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