Has Digital Changed Darkroom Printing?

[monochromeFan]

yes they all are, it's part of what the medium is, it's like being a little pregnant.
sure OK, the latent image is fake too, I can live with that, but sadly, I don't think you can
the latent image is the result of invisible rays of light that brushed upon the light sensitive materials, and have "indexed" the thing in front of the camera. they haven't been preserved in any means so im not sure how they are manipulated
as seen here and on other photographic forums people develop latent images years, sometimes decades after they impregnated the film (or plate ) .. but I guess it's a physical reaction so sure, it's fake ..
as Edgar Allen poe said soon after the invention of photography: believe half of what you hear and none of what you see ...

Then you are back into the gatekeeping realm of no one is a REAL photographer unless:

They can identify 5 famous photographers from 1900 to 1960 merely by looking at a photograph of the person

They use a specific camera and lense just like so-and-so did in 1956

They only use mirrorless digital cameras

They only use 50-70 mm length lenses for portrait work

And other such gibberish..

[paulbarden]

Then you are back into the gatekeeping realm of no one is a REAL photographer unless:

They can identify 5 famous photographers from 1900 to 1960 merely by looking at a photograph of the person

They use a specific camera and lense just like so-and-so did in 1956

They only use mirrorless digital cameras

They only use 50-70 mm length lenses for portrait work

And other such gibberish..

This defies logic. Some rabbit holes are in fact plugged with feces - nothing more.

[Oren Grad]

My basic question was not whether digital photography, or even AI, allow approaches which are hard or impossible to achieve in the darkroom, my question was whether our exposure (another unintended pun) to the drama of stormy skies, super sharp imagery, etc. (which I associate with Photoshop) has changed our aesthetic in the way we print in the darkroom. As a life-long (I'm now 76) B&W film and darkroom photographer, whose approach to printing was formed well before digital existed, I print, let's say, "more quietly," but am beginning to wonder whether I should go for more contrast, more burning in of stormy skies, i.e. more "drama." So what I was really asking was if others of you have asked the same question of your printing, whether your own definition of "a good print" has changed.

It hasn't.

Print with more drama if that is what you need to do at this point in your life to make pictures that you find satisfying. If you don't know, try it and see - print some pictures that way and live with them for a while.

[Drew Wiley]

I've always done everything from very subtle to dramatic prints, in color even before black and white. I have no trouble printing both extremes even in the same darkroom session, or anything in between. You don't need digital for any of it. People might have legitimate reasons for going that route; but don't expect superior print quality, especially facing a new learning curve.

[jnantz]

Then you are back into the gatekeeping realm of no one is a REAL photographer unless:

They can identify 5 famous photographers from 1900 to 1960 merely by looking at a photograph of the person

They use a specific camera and lense just like so-and-so did in 1956

They only use mirrorless digital cameras

They only use 50-70 mm length lenses for portrait work

And other such gibberish..

do you have any idea who I am ?

someone using caffenol made with puddle water and algae I'm not sure can be called a gate keeper

are you talking 50-70 mm on a 4x5? I've done it with a short lens like that, they come out great.
with regards to the other stuff you projected onto me .. none of those things is true except for knowing a fair amount about the history of photography as well as art+architecture. chances are some of 5 photographers I would pick would be found in a junque store. if you find my posts over on other sites you would most often see me standing ground against closed minded photo-bigots. all types of people in this world.

[Tobias Key]

For me good landscape photography conveys an emotional response to the natural world. A lot of modern landscape photography is more like an over-intricate guitar solo, technically brilliant but loses something because the player is more concerned with showing off how well they can play, rather than conveying an emotion.

When I make a landscape photo I ask the simple question, "What does it feel like to stand here?".

[paulbarden]

do you have any idea who I am ?

someone using caffenol made with puddle water and algae I'm not sure can be called a gate keeper

Maybe you're the ultimate gatekeeper, John! Super stealth mode/smokescreen gatekeeper!!! LOL The Miroslav Tichy of gatekeeping!!!

[jnantz]

Maybe you're the ultimate gatekeeper, John! Super stealth mode/smokescreen gatekeeper!!! LOL The Miroslav Tichy of gatekeeping!!!

I like Miroslav Tichy, he's my kind of gatekeeping that film of his home as he's showing those German gallerists his prints stained under coffee cups, wine and cigarette ash cracked me up . they were ready for the conservationists and a big bottle of purell

[paulbarden]

I like Miroslav Tichy, he's my kind of gatekeeping that film of his home as he's showing those German gallerists his prints stained under coffee cups, wine and cigarette ash cracked me up . they were ready for the conservationists and a big bottle of purell

Tichy is one of my heros!

[Michael R]

Digital has changed what I consider to be possible in the darkroom by adding some digital to the mix. I have a lot of ideas for special inkjet dodge/burn masks and it is kind of exciting to me. Unfortunately I don’t have any digital equipment so it’s still just darkroom for me.