The entire world has converted to Digitalism, founded by Most Enlightened Prophet Adobe. Like any religion, converts range from moderate to fanatical. There are still two unwashed heathens left on this planet who have not yet converted to Digitalism. One is an eccentric named Gepe Velvia who lives on the remote, battery free Isle of Emulsion in the Arctic. The other is me. Gepe Velvia was introduced to slide film when Tsunami washed thousands of bricks of slide film onto his little island along with hundreds of drums of E-6 developer which he stores in a large igloo. Gepe Velvia develops his slide film in a large shell no longer occupied by a turtle.

I have never met Gepe Velvia, but I would like to. We do communicate from time to time via high speed homing pigeons. Since Gepe Velvia is inaccessible, reporters and others ask me why I have not converted to Digitalism as has everyone else in the world. My reasons for still shooting slide film are three.

1. Presentation. For reasons unknown, I am asked to give presentations which include lectures, classes, critiques and workshops. As a frequent camera club judge my eyesight is of course poor, and my judgment is always faulty. With these shortcomings, I find the image quality of slide film projection often superior to images projected via digital projectors. Not knowing any better, my poor vision tells me that digital projectors are sometimes harsh when compared with the tones and colors of projected slide film. A long overdue visit to the local optometrist hopefully will correct this severe vision problem.

2. Challenge. Still believing that the earth is flat, I find it a challenge to compose an image in-camera without the chance to alter, amend, abridge or add to. This view is so incomprehensible in this modern era that leading psychiatrists seek me out in order to use me in research studies on what is called Abnormal Behavior Syndrome (ABS).

3. Good excuse. Shooting slide film provides me with a good excuse to continue to produce poor images since everyone understands that slide film is outdated technology that cannot be improved upon in the computer. If I were to shoot digitally, there would be no excuse for producing less than excellent work since it is easy to correct mistakes and produce superb images using software programs. When I shoot slide film, everyone can say, "that poor old fool is doing the best he can with what he has." It is like competing in the Indy 500 with a Volkswagen. Who expects you to do well? As they say in racing circles, "There is nothing as obsolete as last year's race car."

Joseph Miller