Category: film

Dead Cat Bounce: Tetenal

Posted on Posted in film, morning wood, old bones, olden ways, the meta

In 2018, Tetenal failed causing the photo-world to shimmy and shake. Was this the end, or just a climax in a potboiler.

Tetenal came back only to fail again in 2023. This is the way at the end of life. The crash is never complete; until there is no where else to fall.

Chemistry is the profit of the chemical photography business. Emulsions are there so that chemicals will be bought, used, and replaced. Cameras are there for the lenses and films, etc. No chemical means no chemical darkroom; means no paper. The way is clear. It is just lost in the fog of romantic versions of truth. Few want to admit they are on a dead horse; fewer will put that horse down.

This is not a work-horse, it is only a hobby-horse, as such it will not last. Farriers live because horses don’t have to be made, they do the work themselves, unlike emulsions and XTOL.

Reportedly, Tetenal spent about €500,000 (~$574,000) to acquire the license to produce CD3 and CD4 color developers — and apparently they split the bill with Fuji to save money. That is one of the reasons why Unicolor chemistry, for example, is not available in the E.U. No small company or startup could afford such certification and thus Tetenal is the only manufacturer of CD3 and CD4 within the European Union.

<< from 2018 report of Tetenal’s death.

Kodak relied upon Tetenal for Xtol, HC-110, and ECN chemicals.

Why the company failed with full orders, even backorders… the hopeful thought it would be brought back to life, since there is so much vigor in the “recovering analog community” — like alcoholics giving each other bad advice over bad coffee.

It failed again because there aren’t enough multiples of profit in each sale, and there aren’t sufficient sales to maintain a fully managed industry. Gas stations on the interstate make more money in a quarter than Kodak+Ilford make in a year. Fujifilm is the only company that is built upon a large profit foundation; that is from other sectors of its well managed organization.

Adox is claiming, hoping with that claim, that their ability to maintain chemical making will sustain them. This as they also seem to regularly acknowledge that there is little profit in BW paper. Profits from their chemistry funds their research and development of other product lines (assuming color film).

The arc has been clear for more than a decade: people use roll film intending to scan it. Some are beginning to see the other way.

— If I need a camera for film AND a digital camera to scan that film…. why don’t I skip the mechanical/chemical step, going directly to the digital camera?

Might just be bragging rights. Some claim to life-forces unseen. Anyway, people continue to pray for anther Dead Cat Raising.

Definitely Digital: GENERATIVE SYSTEME

Posted on Posted in big bits, creativity, film, on photographers, visual mind

Gottfried Jäger (*1937) Jäger has been part of some of the most iconic computer art exhibitions of the 1960s, such as New Tendencies  (1969) in Zagreb, Experiments in Art and Technology  (1968) at the Brooklyn Museum

Podcast Episode 09 – Stefan Gronert
generative photography.

https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/publications/gottfried-jager

https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/publications/gottfried-jager2

the network image

Just estimating from the number of YouTube subscribers, the generative/network image makers and curators are no threat to the Film Experience broadcasters. Two different approaches to film, PersonA & PersonB have more than 13,000 subscribers with more than 100 likes on their most recent posts. On the other hand, one of the above Digital posts has only 2 likes and less than 200 views as of this post.

And meanwhile, the industrial base of chemical photography is noticeably fragile. It is said by a German participant in the industry, says that their chemistry sales support the R&D into their emulsion+ business. Without profitable developer sales, there is no development within the business. 

ai is generative grown up
made better by becoming a better student

human computer interaction
machine man interface
made to become credible; to understand conversation, the emotion part.. science being told art is communication of emotion.

art became their teacher.
the turing test. beyond counting and classifying images, to finding them, to making them

hci human computer imagery

Professional or Amateur Film

Posted on Posted in artgame, babl, film, overnight notes, The Biz1 Comment

a designation which may seem offensive by those defensive users. Although not an absolute measurement, it was used by the main film makers for most of their film century.

The character of the professional user gave us the term. They used more film; stored it for shorter times; frequently altered the processing parameters. This market of film, frequently, included a tech-sheet with more technical information than the amateur ideograms, assuming that the professional would interpret them correctly for their need. The professional worked with controlled, or at least knowable light systems and situations.

The professional was expected to enlarge their film in different situations and to much greater degree than the amateur. Professional films were expected to be reprinted, or otherwise re-used more often than the amateur.

Amateurs frequently kept film in a camera over many months. At one mass-processor an informal contest ran: the winner would be the roll of film with the greatest number of year-over-year vacation snaps. More Thanksgivings, etc. The ultimate winner was a 12 exposure roll with a wedding, 8 Thanksgivings and a funeral. It was dropped off for processing at a One-Hour finisher. That is the amateur

making photographic emulsions