Are we on the verge of history being lost?

[inked photography]

I expect I will get some heat from this but I think the question is just. I small example. My daughter who is 15 years old (which is when I started), asked if I can teach her photography. Well hellz yeah! Of course I will. So what did I do. Go out and buy her a brand new Digital Camera with all the bells and whistles and say go at it? Far from it. I gave her the camera I learned from. The Pentax K1000, which I love. She looked at me like I was crazy. But if she wants to learn. Go back to the basics. Learn how to shoot film, how to create a picture using negatives, dark rooms, ect. I don't know if that is a good anology but that's what I got.

Now is it just me or do you see a lot of young tattoo artist coming into the business with a lack of respect for the people who made it possible? They don't bother with the proper apprenticship and so forth. Don't bother to learn how to make their own needles, ink, build a machine, maintain it. Now do I know. Psh, please! Hell no. But I am not an artist and don't plan to be. That is not my talent. Now we all know about the so called tattoo shows on TV. Do I like any of them? Eh, they have both helped and hurt. Although I do miss Tattoo Wars. Great show. But what about a show with one individual. Someone who has been in the industry for a long time. Get this person to travel to destinations and shops. Get to the roots and origins of the history of your craft.

I can't tell you how many times friends and I have gotten into conversations with the younger artist and mention the names of pioneers and they look at us like, Who's that? Sad. Now is it necessary? Probably not. Some of you may think so, some of you may not and that's ok. But it would be a shame if we forget the origins. Although solid artist, there seems to be a lack of knowledge. Worse, some seem not interested in being educated. Where is the foundation?

[Johnny]

I cant really answer for tattooing because I dont know but I suspect it is like most things. Some history is lost but what we do now will one day be history. And sometimes, better ways come along and maybe the old ways werent the best. I believe that anyone in a craft should know the roots and be familiar. In other words, I agree with you but I see it happening in many crafts. Especially photograpy. I was pleased that my daughter took photography in high school this year and they made them get a film camera for the beginning of the class. They havent touched a digital yet. Unfortunately, I couldnt find my K1000 from 1983 so I borrowed a camera for her class. I really wish I knew where that camera was. Brilliant camera to learn with.

[inked photography]

The K1000 is the best! I have found several on craigslist. Well I guess not several. In the past couple of months I have seen for sale. Obviously they didn't know what they had cause I bought one for $75.00 and the others were selling for just over $100.00

[jade1955]

Pentax K1000 gets my vote. Solid no frills and a good lenses.

My first 35mm camera.

[nmkcle]

I took photography in high school with a cannon ae-1, and a little in college using the same and a nikon n65 which has manual mode. I waited about six years after high school to do college and was really excited to get into photography again. After quitting school do to tuition costs, I kept with photography as a hobby I really enjoyed. But slowly every store i would go to would have less and less in the way of film. And since I was not in school anymore I could not use the dark room.

Last year my friend and I were going to get a dark room together at my place, as she had the enlarger, canisters, tubs, splicer thingy and other crap. I had the space, however things proved to be difficult when it came to purchasing developer, and different

speeds of film, pretty much the only thing that we could find was Kodak technicolor 400. whooopy... I was an amateur at best, but I really enjoyed the whole mechanical process involved in it.

In my booth at the shop, all the daily duties appointments and so on are written on a Man Ray calender, I like his work, film, photo, photo montage; and I want a reminder to always look for an opportunity to continue to pursue photography. And yes we are on the verge of losing history. I started tattooing three years ago and I found one person who knew enough about making needles to show me. I had to beg, I know of five other people who know how to make needles.

[ThaliaCamille]

I don't think you ever lose history altogether, people just have different areas of interest.

When I did my first photography qualification, I had to do a year of assignments using different film formats, developing and making prints myself. I shudder to think of how many hours I spent adjusting various things, wasting paper and inhaling gnarly fumes. Hated it. All well and good as a base to begin learning from, or as a hobby, but I don't share the opinion of that educational institution that it's "vital knowledge", or that it was necessary to spend so much time on it. I straight-up prefer digital, and don't understand the attitude of some that that makes one "arrogant" or "ungrateful".

Some people (to continue using the photography example) find that they learn a lot by using film. Or that they enjoy it. Others don't. And just as the K1000 seems to you to be "back to basics", there would've been a time when it was seen as all new-fangled and gadgety and set to destroy the livelihood of every photographer ever.

Basically, learning happens differently for different people. If, at the end of the day, they're producing something effective, does it matter how they came to that point?

How good someone is to have a conversation with, and how good they are at what they do, can be totally unrelated.