[Leica] Photogs in a Digitally Abreviated World

[leicanikon at earthlink.net (Stephen Gandy)]

a few years ago I bought a Canon S900
at the time it was a best rated printer, and Canon claimed a print life of
25 years

Canon  lied.
prints were badly faded within 6 months indoors, with no exposure to
sunlight, using Canon inks and the best Canon papers.

it's easy to get excited about digital's ease

it's also far to easy to forget about how long the digital image we worked
so hard for will be around.

digital prints aren't proven to last as long as silver, regardless of any
claims made otherwise, cause digital prints and storage mediums ain't a
hundred years old yet !

buyers of art prints have a right to expect their investment to be
protected not only during their lifetime, but during their survivor's
lifetime as well.  anything less is unacceptable.

but forget them. Photographers have the right to expect their work will
last during our lifetime, and beyond for their families after they pass
over.   real world, digital work may not do that at its present state of
development.  sure, it will eventually happen, but that will be of little
consequence to those who lose years of work, or even entire careers, due to
digital degradation of prints and storage mediums.

the only way I know of to really safeguard that valued digital print is to
make a silver neg copy of the digital print.  in silver I trust the future,
not digital.  someday maybe, but not now.  I am open to other solutions,
but I won't believe unproved claims of  estimated life spans of digital
prints and digital storage mediums.

Stephen Gandy