Film Gave Way to Digital — What Will be Remembered, and HOW?
I developed an interest in photography at a very young age, basically following in my father's footsteps.
Since I am now in my 60's, most of my early photographic experience was with film. I suppose we were a little more particular about what we pointed the came at because film cost money, and then developing cost money, after that.
To this day, I still have dozens of boxes of both slides and negatives in bins in my closet... and I expect they'll be one of the things I am not going to get rid of, as part of the ongoing efforts to downsize our world.
Of course, I do use digital technology for everything photographic these days — just like 99% of the rest of the population — but when I look at all those old pieces of film, I do find myself wondering how the future will be "recorded," for those looking back from hundreds of years down the road.
After all, a digital image is nothing more than electrical impulses... consider an explorer from the future, looking back from thousands of years out there, perhaps in a world that long since stopped having electricity. Will they look back on the history of the species and conclude that around the year 2010 or so, the human species simply stopped recording their history?
After all, there is a chance that an archival quality printed photograph would survive time — under the right conditions — but what about the digital one and zeroes that actually have no physical presence, in the absence of electricity?
I'm aware that it might purely be ego to think that current history and life would matter in the future... but why wouldn't it? We currently excavate our past, in search of answers to the puzzles of history... how would we do that, in a situations where things were no longer recorded, in the physical sense?
What would we know of the Egyptians, if their hieroglypics had been recorded digtally, rather than carved on rock, or scribed on papyrus scrolls? Seems likely it would not be very much!
So what's my point here?
The expedience of digital media and other forms of "capture" built purely for speed and convenience may not always be the best way to do things.
I say this also as a life-long collector of old postage stamps, postcards and letters. If everything had been digital, that wouldn't even be a hobby! After all, who "collects" emails? And how would you even do that?
I realize that there might be those who read this and exclaim "But what about NFTs?"
What about them?
What are they, absent electricity and computer screen? If I am stranded on the proverbial desert island, I can pull out a printed photo od my sweetheart and remember why I need to get off the island. With a digital image, I'd be SOL!
Don't get me wrong — I dig technology as much as the next person, but sometimes I wish the rabid Tech Bros would be mindful of the fact that tech does have its limitations.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!
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Created at 2025.07.14 00:09 PDT
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I've often wished I could afford to print out all my digital images. When we first got a digital camera, I tried to do this but had to stop. I also have all my old negatives and slides, plus the photos printed from them. The photos are all in albums.
I would love to say that digital photos are good because we can do print it easily and no need to have an over pricing photographer. Those old pics mostly are black and white and its nice though we cannot edit.