technology

Humans have been creating art and visual communications for thousands of years. The great animal paintings in the Lascaux caves of France are over 17,000 years old and are still impressive, dynamic and alive. Even with improvements in tools and technology, modern artists still struggle to make art as powerful as these early works. Our studio (Lascaux Digital) is named in respect for the essential art that lies at the core of what we strive to do. Our tools are very modern but the challenge of making powerful, effective, memorable or riveting images is the same as always. Despite new and great technology, this is a deeply human endeavor. Without a strong dedication to the creative process the best tools are unable to produce anything of substance.

The photographic arts are often thought of as a purely technologically driven media. We strongly disagree. While we work with very sophisticated tools, they are simply means to an end and should enable us to do things well, quickly or less expensively. How well we do our work with these tools still relies on the basic foundations or art- things like form, composition, balance, light, tone and color. The human part of this process lies in the ability of an image to communicate well. People sometimes feel that commercial art has no need of these things — that it is a “lesser art” and the economics of the process are somehow the core of the results. However, much of the world's greatest masterpieces (for example all the works of Michalangelo and da Vinci) have been “commercial”. They were made for clients with budgets and deadlines. Today our clients are publishers, ad agencies, small business and larger corporations. The tools we use are new, the technology is incredibly powerful, but the criteria of good art is the same now as it was when Lascaux was painted.

In order to be able to use the best tools, materials and processes for our projects, we have invested heavily in both equipment and study. Experience from thousands of projects over the past 25 years has taught us that we always have more to learn. Our technical backgrounds have grown from work with film-based imaging and traditional silver based darkroom work. We still do work with those tools when it is appropriate; we are one of the very few studios in the USA that maintains ability to work with film formats from 35mm through 8x10 and 11x14” film. We also are dedicated to using the latest in high end digital photographic systems, and more importantly the dedicated craftsmanship that is needed to finesse images for the final use using digital workflow. There is also an art to selecting the right tools and technology for a project. We are always happy to share our ideas, enthusiasm and show our latest undertakings. We are also very happy to discuss your needs and to explore using the “fine art of contemporary technical photography” with you in person at our studios.