Negative growth: what is the future of analog photography?

[xchrom]

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Negative/growth/what/is/the/future/of/analog/photography/elpepueng/20120131elpeng_5/Ten

"The market goes on without the need for Kodak." These are not the words of an executive at a competing multinational. They are spoken by Mark Ostrowski, a US photographer and one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to the state of analog photography in Spain, in reference to the recent demise of the former photography giant.

Ostrowski, who has been living in Gijón (Asturias) for the last 20 years, runs a store called foto-r3.com. His is one of the few surviving small businesses in the world that sell nothing but photochemical material. Ever since he started this venture a decade ago, just when the crisis was hitting the large film roll makers, Ostrowski's focus on craft photography has earned him a consolidated spot in a minority market that remains alive and might have more of a future than we think.

Fuji, the world's second-ranked company in terms of film roll sales, provides some pessimistic figures in connection with its analog division. The multinational sells 500,000 rolls a year in Spain. Back in the good old days, the industry used to make 40 million a year, but that percentage is falling 40 to 50 percent per annum.

Yet the same source also notes that sales of its instant analog cameras have grown noticeably. In another indication that instant photography may be making a comeback, Barcelona is home to a brand new store run by Impossible Project, the company that has managed to make and sell rolls for Polaroid cameras.

[Sherman A1]

1. I would hope that it has a place in the world

I am very happy in the DSLR world, but I certainly respect the works of those who would want to use film or other medias. I think it would be a shame to see it completely gone.

[tabatha]

2. "while the integrity of a digital file can never be fully ascertained"

That may not always be true.

[Puzzler]

3. ... assuming it's not printed out, like an

analog photograph.

[tabatha]

4. There may be techniques in the future to deal with this.

[Puzzler]

5. That's kind of my point...

... any digital photograph (if need be) can be printed out... and so, depending on the quality of the printer, ink and paper, the "hard copy" will last (or not last) just like an analog photo.

[tabatha]

6. I was talking about a digital solution to a digital picture.