I remember about a year ago I went into a local store to buy some film because I was in a pinch. I use almost exclusively Tri-X for my black and white work, because I like the look of that film. This store is one that like many, many, many local stores have gone pretty much all digial to keep their store open in recent years because of the market. The look and response I got was like, you use black and white film? Only students use that. Behind the young guy was a wall of new digital cameras. Needless to say, I have never gone back to that store, as it has seriously gone down hill.

But seriously, I feel like this about a lot of stuff in America. I always feel forced to use certain things, like the economic markets (and the man) tell me what to do and how to do it, and I hate that. Art to me is the only refuge I have in daily life, where I feel like I can do what I want, and how I want to do it, and express my personal feelings in my work, not those of the camera and software makers. I too am not a digital hater, but personally, for the most part, it is not to my taste for my personal expression. Now I admit, family snapshots are different, honestly for convenience, but I can't help feeling like the consumer market is trying to tell me how I should be expressing my inner visions, and seriously encroaching on a personal subject--that's my problem with it.

Matt

"To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event." - Henri Cartier-Bresson