Spoken so eloquently the other day in class Paul mentioned his perspective upon transition and the nostalgia to remain where one feels most excited and happy, for lack of a better expression. Not only did I completely understand and relate to this idea of staying static, but I also feel this is very much where Fred Ritchin is coming. His writing within the first page of his text is extremely aggressive leaving one with the feeling of nearly being attacked.
Though I agree with what he has to say about the chaos of the present technological advancements and destruction we have caused upon this planet and its people throughout the years and inventions, it appears that Ritchin is hyper sensitive to the situation that is the digital era.
After taking the history of photography, it appears that Ritchin is as hysterically afraid of technological advancements as Hitler was of Dada. These expressions of art are different and new, but it does not mean the end of all that is important to photography and that which makes it known as photography.
The practice is ever altering as everything else in our daily lives and taking the bitter approach that all is going to be lost to a sea of advertisements and persons who lack the drive to appreciate and understand great art work has been a struggle since Talbot took The Open Door in 1844, and when Modernist began creating works that were skewed and different.
It seems that the new and unfamiliar is always unsettling but that is all the more reason to explore and discover as Talbot did of the calotype, Watkins did of Yosemite and Muybridge did of motion.
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