Synæsthesia

Computer technology and the internet have changed virtually every aspect of how we do things.  Photography is no exception.  Everyone with a cell phone is carrying an impressively capable camera.  The proliferation of photo sharing apps has led to an explosion of images designed to be viewed on a screen.

Even before cell phones, digital photography supplanted film as the medium of choice for the vast majority of photographers.  The last professional quality film camera ceased production in 2018, and only a few film stocks were still being produced.  Darkrooms at most high schools and colleges were dismantled.  

Against this background, a new generation of photographers rediscovered film, leading to a renaissance of sorts.  Leica has introduced a "new" 35mm film camera and Kodak has hired personnel to ramp up film production.  

There is now a vigorous debate over the "purity" of digital versus analog photography.  This project was designed to further that debate.

During a photo shoot, two different cameras were used to capture the same scene.  A Fuji GFX100s captured the scene digitally and a Canon AE-1 loaded with Ilford HP5+ was used to capture the analog version.

Most of the students correctly identified the images as to origin. What might be more interesting is whether or not they continue to believe that analog holds an advantage over digital, or vice versa. Their comments will be collected over the coming days and added to this page.

Traditional silver gelatin prints were processed.  The matching digital image was subjected to two different postprocessing procedures.  In the first, a custom curve approximating that of HP5+ was added.  In the second, grain was added to the custom curve.

All three versions were presented side-by-side to a group of Intermediate and Advanced photography students.  Some of the students shoot mostly film, while others shoot only digital.  The students were asked to identify which images were digital and which were analog.

Computer technology and the internet have changed virtually every aspect of how we do things.  Photography is no exception.  Everyone with a cell phone is carrying an impressively capable camera.  The proliferation of photo sharing apps has led to an explosion of images designed to be viewed on a screen.

Even before cell phones, digital photography supplanted film as the medium of choice for the vast majority of photographers.  The last professional quality film camera ceased production in 2018, and only a few film stocks were still being produced.  Darkrooms at most high schools and colleges were dismantled.  

Against this background, a new generation of photographers rediscovered film, leading to a renaissance of sorts.  Leica has introduced a "new" 35mm film camera and Kodak has hired personnel to ramp up film production.  

There is now a vigorous debate over the "purity" of digital versus analog photography.  This project was designed to further that debate.

During a photo shoot, two different cameras were used to capture the same scene.  A Fuji GFX100s captured the scene digitally and a Canon AE-1 loaded with Ilford HP5+ was used to capture the analog version.

Most of the students correctly identified the images as to origin. What might be more interesting is whether or not they continue to believe that analog holds an advantage over digital, or vice versa. Their comments will be collected over the coming days and added to this page.

Traditional silver gelatin prints were processed.  The matching digital image was subjected to two different postprocessing procedures.  In the first, a custom curve approximating that of HP5+ was added.  In the second, grain was added to the custom curve.

All three versions were presented side-by-side to a group of Intermediate and Advanced photography students.  Some of the students shoot mostly film, while others shoot only digital.  The students were asked to identify which images were digital and which were analog.

Using Format