Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

photo.net Interview: David Julian
Meunch, Richard Misrach, Walker Evans and Wynn Bullock; and conceptual masters Jerry
Uelsmann, William Eggelston and Man Ray.
My advice to advanced amateur photographers about to go professional is to work for a few
excellent photographers who's work you admire, and to learn how they operate a business. I
lacked that useful stage of development, and it made it harder on me without it. Don't hesitate to
call someone nearby that you admire and be straight with them about your idea. Most won't bite -
they like the admiration and recall how they got help early on. Be prepared to put yourself
second, and offer the mentor your utmost. THAT will pay off for sure. Read PDN
(PhotoDistrictNews) and other PRO pubs to keep abreast of legal issues and trends. Learn NOT
to sell your work without proper compensation and rights control. Join or study ASMP, ASPP, or
other industry organizations and their literature. Attend meetings and parties and above all, have
some FUN as you learn.
3. Do you prefer working with digital or film cameras? Why?
I prefer film cameras at this time, as I require a lot of dependable image quality and love to edit
film on a light box with a high-quality loupe. I also feel that film offers a more stable platform for
professional reproduction at this present time, and at a reasonable cost. I must add however, that
a well-featured digital camera with manual setting options is a very useful and speedy tool for
learning composition and experimenting with spontaneity. Digital images can also be
immediately judged and edited, speeding up the learning process. Although you can see all of
your shoot on the computer, I still love the sheer joy of first seeing my images days after they
were created. It's like unwrapping a visual present. Someday, when digital cameras are as fullyfeatured,
reasonably priced and of the same quality as film cameras, I will go totally digital. But
even then, I will never discard my 3x5-foot light box and my Schneider loupe!
4. Can you tell us about your technical process.
Ooh, that's a tough one. I use many processes, depending on my
desired results. I use optical printing, digital printing and
manipulation in roughly equal amounts. I use traditional cameras
and a few home-made ones as well (my Kaputski is a modified
1966 Pentax 67 with a Russian projector lens on it) . I always take
a photograph as if there were no digital tools available, but
sometime later use the computer to "digitally darkroom" the image
to its full potential. I am extremely facile in Photoshop, yet I limit
most of my manipulations to those that also exist in the optical
darkroom realm. I do this to insure that my photographs stay as
Photography, and that my illustrations remain as Illustration.
That's purely a personal issue, and a commercial one at this time.
That could change as perceptions change. I reject photographers
that use digital imaging to "create" scenes that they did not actually find in nature. That does not
apply to enhancement or retouching imperfections out. I just dislike unartistic and obvious fakery
http://www.photo.net/interviews/davidjulian/ (3 of 6)7/3/2005 2:19:56 AM