From the Editor: VOL. 3, NO.3 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2003

Photovision Magazine CoverThe Photovision editorial team just returned from New York, where we visited the PhotoPlus Expo, held at the Javitts Center. Except for a few notable bastions of traditional, Bogen Photo, Theodore Bromwell, Canham Cameras, Cooke Optics, the entire show was digital oriented. Let’s face it, the industry is market driven, and it is less expensive to place a chip in a camera body, than a motorized advance and rewind—in essence there are fewer moving parts. Digital is also perceived as the wave of the future, due in no small part to Fortune 500 company, Eastman Kodak.

What interested me the most at PhotoPlus was the new Kodak Digital DCS Pro14n 35mm camera and DCS Pro Back. No, no, they’re not going to be reviewed in this issue. What interested me is that they appeared to me to be as good or better than all the other 35mm cameras and digital backs I saw at the show, and at a competitive price. That means that Eastman may finally make a profit on digital, capture a large share of the market, and film will become even less important to their marketing efforts (you may already have noticed that Kodak has not had a new film or paper ad in years).

I cannot say for certain what this portends for the future of silver-based photography, but I encourage you to use more Ilford, Agfa, Forté, Oriental, Fomapan, Efke, and Cachet products. If we don’t support the little guys now, they may not be there when we need them.

This issue celebrates that time of year when Earth, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, becomes dormant. Earth Mother is asleep under a blanket of snow, waiting to reawaken in the Spring, full of new life. Mankind also tends to slow down. In the Northeast, the Midwest, and here in the Rocky Mountains where PV is published, people just don’t go out as much. In California, life goes on as freewheeling as usual.

To honor the Season, we are featuring the work of Oliver Gagliani, a major influence on both photographers and photography, through his work and teachings. As we were preparing to go to press with this issue we were informed that Oliver had passed away on the morning of November 20, at the age of 85. He will be greatly missed by all those he touched, his students, friends, and family. We were gratified that Oliver was able to see a copy of our cover with his image.

Oliver is well known for his eclectic choice of subjects. Even so, his early work with ghost towns, sponsored by the NEA, is not only appropriate in this Winter edition, but ties in beautifully with the elegant work of Corrie McCluskey. Corrie has created a series on the abandoned maximum security prison, Alcatraz. Ghosts and memories abound in her work, as they do in Oliver’s.

The third portfolio in this issue is that of France Sculley Osterman. Her choice of subject to share with us is “sleep.” That’s right, France has photographed her subjects in the act of sleeping. What better way to spend the Winter months?


Steve Anchell
Editor
Email: pvedit@ctelco.net