PMA is over and things are beginning to settle down. I had a different role at PMA this year than in year’s past…in addition to updating the Web site, I worked on the PMA daily as the “Roving Reporter.” I thought this was a great experience and one that every PMA participant should have had the opportunity to live. Because I was the one who (a little cheesily) ran around the convention center with a point and shoot and a notepad at 7:30 a.m. asking people why they came out and what they expected to see, I really felt like I was on the edge of the rail, the finger on the pulse of the know, if you will, of the building excitement before the doors flung open on day one. It was a different “in the know” than usual–not so much what’s new in PMA products, but what’s new with the PMA people…

Upon reflection, I learned from the collective YOU that people go to a show like PMA with a purpose..at least initially. They have a goal–in their head or on their back…a little blue jay whispering in the ears, of what their purpose is. But it is difficult to stay on track when you enter the show, those doors fly open and you step on the “magic” purple carpet the size of a football field. And there’s all those booths. And now even two floors…and the goal flies out of the head and to the back of the room. Way back, near the wastebaskets that you can never find on the show floor. Until day two–that is.

Day two, people know what they saw that excited them, inspired them and they are reminded of the purpose set forth, the goal. While everyone has a purpose, however malformed and fuzzy, there is one. Still, everyone’s goal (at least with all the people I interviewed) is different. Yet, they all find answers at a show like PMA and that’s the beauty. Here are some of the goals and highlights of the people I spoke to as a “Roving Reporter” (no, I didn’t wear a newsboy cap and puff on a cigar, smokin isn’t allowed).

One young lady from a small town in the midwest was after cool supplies for her scrapbooking store for those who don’t like scrapbooking. She wanted to compete with the other scrapbooking store in town.

Another chic woman I spoke to was conducting market research to see if opening an online scrapbooking business was a viable option.

A young man I interviewed was excited to quit his day boring financial-laden desk job and become a professional photographer. He was particularly impressed with the dye sublimation process exhibited.

A female CEO from Scandinavia was searching for the future method of packaging memories for her wholesale business. She believed were are seeing the death of the stand-alone print.

A male retail manager was looking for new way to incorporate sports photography products and classes at his store.

A photography teacher from Vermont was supporting her students who placed at the special international exhibit by teachers and students from around the globe. She commented that it was a relief to see the show had struck a balance between traditional and nontraditional photography from the oversaturation of digital of past years. She added that her students look at both darkrooms as different tools of the same art of photography. Her students want to learn liquid darkroom! Awesome!

A professional photographer from Jamaica was searching to buy equipment that he can’t find on his island. I learned that in that country photographers are actually hired to shoot funerals (did you know that?). The reason is both cultural and the fact that many family members can’t fly there to attend.

And there were many more goals. The last guy really move me because it was his first time in this country, he was sick (i had to sit down with him and hand him some tissues) because he wasn’t used to the cold of Vegas. (I told him it was a cold front) And he was jetlagged. He flew into Vegas to get camera equipment..not to party…I learned a lot from visiting the halls of people this year.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Working on a magazine, we tend to receive a lot of press releases announcing the launches of products but few announcing the discontinuation of them… On occasion however, some of these announcments are no surprise while others are quite unexpected.
Earlier this week, we got the news that Polaroid has decided to close the plants that manufacture the company’s Polaroid film. The reason is obvious—digital is ubiquitous.
According to an article in The Boston Globe, the manufacturing plants will close this year, giving Polaroid a small stockpile of film to last into 2009.
At one time almost every photographer—portrait, wedding and commercial—had at least one Polaroid back for their medium or larger format cameras. Instant film was a necessity—to check product or subject placement, lighting and focus—saving you from having to expose film that would need to be processed, and which could become expensive if you were shooting, say 8×10 chromes.
But digital has replaced the immediacy of Polaroid film, and you don’t even need to wait 45-seconds after you press the shutter, before you can view the image.
I suppose the second-hand Polaroid SX-70 camera I purchased on eBay a few years ago for fine-art purposes will now be a permanent museum piece next to the old Kodak Brownie I happened upon as a collectible. Sadly, I do admit that since I’ve gotten my first DSLR I haven’t touched my Nikon F3 or Bronica SQ-Ai.
Recently Kodak quietly announced the discontinuation of its high speed B&W Infrared film. A favorite of nature, landscape, and wedding photographers—there are now digital options, both hardware and software, to replace that old favorite too.
Although those icons of the past will be missed, the efficiencies of present day digital affords us so many new directions and opportunities. Some of these new products made their debuts at PMA last month. We’re bring many of them to you (see page 42 of the March issue of Studio Photography magazine) and will continue to do so in upcoming issues of both PTN and Studio Photography, and here on imaginginfo.com.
Best,
Diane Berkenfeld
Editor