The act of processing film (&paper) is falling away from the shared experience of photographers. The profession has dropped chemistry quickly, though amateurs and some students learn and practice it, and probably will in dwindling numbers for another generation. Then it will be gone until some future rediscovery.

The object of photography is now an image without being an object. It is a representation only. This change should probably have a different name for the maker, even a different verb for the action. It seems to have a community shared verb — “capture.” Yet the name for the maker remains photography or else a complex “digital photographer.” It is time to grant both courses their own word by giving those who “capture” the name “digitographer.”

This may clear the kitchen of too many idle cooks and keep the soup clean.