It seems like lately less and less value is being placed on books. With more stores closing due to people purchasing online books or simply getting their information on the internet in some way, I have to wonder what the future will hold for the legacy of the story. As photographers we all face the challenge of archiving our work. A permanent legacy of what we have achieved and the stories that we spent years telling. How much history now is recorded only on computers, no longer on the pages? The one problem with digital that all who know this argument is that it requires power to keep the archive alive. That’s the flaw with digital.
I won’t argue that we are at a point where knowledge can be gained quite easily. It’s practically at our fingertips. There is still something about a physical book that is more appealing. Not that I like forests being destroyed to make them, but books are permanent as long as they are taken care of. Reading a book is not just about a story it’s a mark of accomplishment that you had the discipline to sit down and read. Maybe I’m just ranting for the sake of ranting but there is warmth in those books that isn’t there in the iPads, or Kindles, or any computer. And that’s a big part of it.