(046) Worlds Apart

Clearing out some storage space today I came across a box of assorted negatives, 35mm slides and prints that I had apparently forgotten about for the past few years. I've been slowly digitising old family photographs for years now, by means of a flatbed scanner, macro lens setup, and ancient T-mount slide copying device, all of which methods require some time and effort to produce a half-decent digital image. Today, for some reason, I had a mild 'penny dropping/lightbulb lighting' moment when I realised that I could use my phone camera to take a snapshot of a negative and, with a couple of apps already on my phone, quickly produce a positive image that gives a good impression of the photo without having to resort to any tricky technical setups. 

This image is a case in point. The original acetate negative was likely shot in 1917 and show shows early excavation work at the site of the Burntisland Alumina Works. I assume the picture would have been taken  by a photographer working carefully and methodically in order to get a good result with the technology of the day. Fast forward a little over a hundred years and the original image can be copied, processed, enhanced, and shared world-wide in minutes by means of a device the size of a chocolate bar. 

I suppose the people that feature in this image would likely be surprised at how photographic technology has advanced to where we are now, but I think they might be much more impressed by the mechanisation of excavation and construction equipment that we are used to now.