Photography – Page 36 – a sibilant intake of breath

Photo archives

This afternoon, Emily and I were looking through photo albums from when I was a young child. One of many thoughts that occurred to me during the course of flipping through photos nearly a quarter-century old is the enduring quality of such media. Digital photography is a lot cheaper and more convenient, but it is also likely to be more ephemeral. Who has confidence that their digital photos will endure for twenty or thirty years? Who has the backups, and on media with that kind of lifespan? Neither burned CDs nor hard drives can really be counted upon for such a duration.

People may age may be the last generation to commonly have baby photos to look at in old age. Someone should offer a service where digital files are pressed onto bronze in file formats that will still be readable decades or centuries hence.

LCD picture frames

Walking through a packed mall the other day, I actually saw a product that had not previously occurred to me but which was nonetheless quite appealing: electronic picture frames. They ran from about $150 for a 4 x 6″ frame to about $350 for an 8 x 12″ version. The latter is the size I would go for, if purchasing such a thing. It doesn’t make too much sense to show off photos at sizes smaller than that.

Basically, you put a bunch of photos on a memory card, put it in the frame, and see them presented for whatever span of time you like. So far, my intention to make some prints has not been fulfilled. This would be more portable and varied than a bunch of framed prints, anyhow.

The idea of an ever-changing photographic feature for my living room is appealing. My flat would seem a bit less impersonal with such an element. It is also true that the presentation of photos in an actively luminous way (slides or a screen) has advantages over prints that simply reflect available light. For one thing, the colours seem to look nicer.

Does anybody know which brands make attractive and reliable screens of these sorts?

Banning photography reduces our security

Yet another story has surfaced about the authorities being overly heavy handed in response to photography. This time, it a Japanese man threatened and detained because he was taking photos from the window of a moving train. There are two important responses to this trend. The first is to stress that it is useless for security purposes. If there is a situation in which taking a photo would help a terrorist to achieve their objectives, no enforceable anti-photo policy will deter them. Anyone willing to plan or undertake a terrorist attack will be able to tolerate any punishment that could conceivably be imposed for taking photos. They are also likely to be able to take photos in a way that will not be noticed: either with sneaky hidden cameras or with a simple camera phone or by developing an awareness of when the authorities are watching. Banning photography in places like vehicles and bridges punishes photography enthusiasts and serves no security purpose.

Secondly, the ability to take photographs is an important check against the abuse of authority. Without the infamous videotape, it is likely that the Rodney King beating would never have received public attention and that the officers involved would have been able to lie their way out of the situation. Similar abuses, such as the inappropriate use of tasers, have been appropriately documented because people present had the capability and initiative to make a recording. Photos, videos, and other recordings can provide a vital record of interactions with authority: both allowing people whose rights are abused to provide evidence and allowing frivolous claims to be dismissed. A security force that is serious about good conduct and oversight has nothing to fear and much to gain from a bit of public surveillance.

More generally, banning photography is symptomatic of the demise of open society. While there are legitimate security risks that exist and reasonable steps that should be taken to protect against them, reducing oversight and individual liberty both undermines the very things we are trying to protect and creates new risks of abuse at the hands of modern society’s burly new enforcers.

[Update: 15 November 2007] This post on Classical Bookworm, about a recent incident at the Vancouver airport, highlights how important it is for private citizens to be able to record the actions of police and other security officials.

Chernobyl gets a new hat

At the same time as enthusiasm is growing for the use of nuclear fission as a non-greenhouse gas emitting energy source, the crumbling concrete tomb around the Chernobyl reactor is to be encased in steel, at an approximate cost of $1.4 billion. The doomed reactor will be covered by “a giant arch-shaped structure out of steel, 190 metres (623 feet) wide and 200m long.” Of course, it is only a matter of time before the new carapace will need to be replaced, in turn.

The Chernobyl disaster occurred back in 1986. Despite causing widespread contamination, about 95% of the radioactive material initially present remains within the site of the reactor complex. A motorcycle-riding photographer named Elena has put some haunting photos of the abandoned area on her website.

Just yesterday, Dr. Patrick Moore (co-founder of Greenpeace) urged the more widespread use of fission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As ever, there are three big problems with nuclear fission: waste that will be dangerous for a span longer than the existence of civilization thus far, the possibility of catastrophic accidents, and the connection between civilian nuclear capability and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It is certainly becoming less clear-cut that nuclear is a worse option than the alternatives. For one thing, new reactor designs like the South African pebble bed promise to reduce the chances of accidents. On the proliferation side, there is talk of fuel supplier countries taking back spent rods, as protection against their plutonium being extracted and used for bombs. Of course, that just worsens the nuclear waste situation. The fact that it is all sitting in ‘temporary’ reactor ponds and that no state has constructed a permanent geological storage facility for radioactive waste should continue to give us pause.

Hacking a Canon digicam

For a number of years now, I have been recommending the Canon Powershot series of point and shoot digital cameras to everyone thinking of buying a relatively inexpensive but surprisingly capable digicam. Thanks to a firmware hack called CHDK, it seems they can be made even better. You can activate features normally available only on much higher end cameras, such as live histograms and taking pictures in RAW format.

Unfortunately, the A510 that I use to take all the photos on this blog is too old for the software. When it finally kicks the bucket for good, I may well buy a camera that can me modded in this way.

I learned about this via flying penguin.

From glowing pixels to my walls

I am thinking of getting a few 8×10″ or larger prints made from some of my photos. While the exclusively IKEA furniture does create an overwhelming sense of individuality on its own, it might be good to add a bit of my own touch to this apartment.

I don’t suppose anybody is aware of a capable Ottawa photo lab (something akin to Vancouver’s Custom Colour)?

One late end to the Oxford era

Having finally got round to uploading the last of my Oxford pictures to photo.net, I am struck by how long ago the events portrayed seem to have happened. They seem no more immediate to me than photos taken two years ago or more.

Photos from British Columbia – as well as the first Ottawa shots worthy of Photo.net – will emerge in due time. So too will some from Morocco.

PS. Anyone confused about my overall system for sorting photos online should have a peek at this page.

[Update: 12 August 2007] The Morocco photos have been added to Photo.net.

Morocco photos, part five

By climbing the slippery canyon walls, you could get a good view of the middle section of the cascade.

I had to spent a very long and uncomfortable day traveling to see them, so readers should be willing to tolerate a large number of pictures of the falls.