Softness Desirable, Not Fuzziness
“Is there a tendency, as shown in the work seen in the magazines, the exhibitions, and the photographs selected for the present Annual, to get rid of fuzziness and substitute a rational degree of softness and atmospheric effect?”
“I would say that the reproductions that we see in the magazines do not in all cases represent lens work but, I fear, bad printing sometimes. There is often a good definite quality in soft focus lens work that looks very definite indeed, even more definite than a sharp lens will give. Fuzziness is bad, but not softness. The soft focus lens seems to be more popular than ever and it apparently has come to stay.”
Professional Photography Influenced by that of the Pictorialist
“Has the professional photography of today been influenced, in your judgment, by the work of the pictorialists?”
“Yes, very decidedly, and the professionals confess it. The best professional photographers freely admit that they have drawn much inspiration from the pictorial workers' ideas.”
The Popular Mediums
“What medium—gum, multiple gum, bromoil, platinum, bromide, chloride—is most popular today?”
“Bromide and chloride are the most popular. That this is so is probably because they are easier to use; but there are very earnest workers—some of the best—who insist on using the processes which give a greater range and greater possibilities of [pg 8] quality, such as bromoil, gum, and gum platinum. I would say that these processes are more popular than they used to be.”