Photography itself was of course a fad, until it wasn’t. Same goes for stereo sound, blue jeans and T-shirts as casual wear, and rock & roll. One function of cultural journalism (and I have that hat, among others, in my wardrobe) involves looking at fads in order to gauge the likelihood of their turning into trends, and from trends evolving into relatively permanent aspects of the cultural landscape. […]
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The steadily shrinking size of all electronic gizmos, with the consequent vulnerability to theft, loss, and misplacement, will lead to subcutaneous implantation thereof in the foreseeable future. The nanotech breakthrough that has enabled the use of living cells — including human cells — as data storage and transmission units certainly places this possibility visibly on the event horizon. […] We’re racing toward a much more immersive, tactile, kinesthetic involvement with computing generally, and with digital imaging specifically. I don’t think it spells the end of still photography. But in a world in which 3D still imagery is rampant, and 3D still-imaging systems readily available, what will people make of 2D still imagery and imaging systems — which, with only a few exceptions, is how the history of photography to date could be described? […] If you’re reading this, then obviously Jesus Christ did not consider you worthy of ascent to Heaven with Him in the Rapture. You’re doomed, in short, to stay around until the middle of the fall semester. And, as part of your punishment for your sins, you’ll receive these missives from me with updates about the lunacies and shenanigans of your colleagues in our little corner of the universe. […] |
 SPJ Research Award 2014 |
David W. Streets . . . He’s Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
The triumphant return of David W. Streets to the limelight does not bear on the Norsigian-Adams contretemps, but on a brand-new situation: the 1980 garage-sale purchase by one Anton Fury of anonymous negatives of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Streets has, so far, behaved in a more circumspect manner than he did with the arguable “Ansel Adams” negatives. Instead of proposing authorship or pretending to other expertise, as he did with the Norsigian material, Streets is . . . crowdsourcing. […]