For 25 years I made art and travelled the country in a big cargo van, driving to art fairs around the country selling my work at juried art fairs. Until the early 2000's the manner for entering these shows was sending slides of your artwork to the desired artfair and having them judged by a (very subjective) jury. Sometimes the odds were as high as 25:1 whether or not one would get into a particular show. Yearly income would depend on the quality of the slides. As cameras became digital so did the entry process for entering art fairs and slides became passe. My entire career as an artist was a success in terms of selling my artwork, but the record of what I had accomplished was invisible because the medium on which it was recorded became obsolete. For 10 years my slides (25 years of my life), and all of our family slides going back 60 years, sat in a box - waiting for something.
I read an article about PPP, but then lost it and spent some time finding the contact again. After talking with Hanna we quickly arranged to have our slides converted to digital. There were also a number of treasured family photographs that PPP scanned and also transferred to a digital format. I am not usually at a loss for words, but the impact of what this process has meant to me is hard to describe, the closest I can come is this:
I worked in a visual medium (art), which was a joy and priveledge and it all was sold and went to live in the homes of others. The only reminder I had of all those thousands of pieces was a 100+ slides which, due to technology, was rendered invisible. Because of the work of PPP my slides were converted into a format which makes my work visible again = visual/invisible/visible. What a concept!
It is sometimes difficult for me to comprehend these changes, but I certainly have an overwhelming appreciation for what this new technology has allowed me to do. I have the record of my artwork to share, use as a teaching tool, but mostly have the satisfaction of knowing that it is archived and will simply be preserved. All of our slides were returned in an archival quality binder and we received CD and backup disks. A thoroughly professional job.
An added bonus is that Hanna and I discovered that we are neighbors and have many mutual interests.
We could not be any more pleased with the outcome, the quality of work performed by PPP and encourage everyone to preserve photographs, slides and movies in a digital format - they are not going to last forever in their current state. If you have any questions, Hanna will be happy to give you our contact information. Susan C. Wright, Ann Arbor read more
