As noted on the previous page, Norman Breslow is the first person we know of who used manual techniques to produce digital art that today is done automatically by many computer programs using built-in applications called filters.  They are called filters because in the days of film various colored or distortion-causing glass or plastic filters were used to create artistic alterations to normal photos.  Mr. Breslow was able to accomplish artistic alterations to his photos through means described in his book, Basic Digital Photography, published in 1991.  Mr Breslow's work of art are considered rare and unique because they were done manually before the development of computerized programs for producing similar results.  In fact, it is entirely possible that Mr. Breslow's work motivated and inspired those computer program engineers who eventually did make them available for all of us, even those of us who are artistically challenged.

However, the value of Mr. Breslow's original works of art is not dependent just upon his use of a new and previously unknown technique, each individual photo in its original, unaltered form shows the eye of an artist who saw artistic images in everyday life that most of us would have passed by without a second thought.  That is, even without digital manipulation, Mr. Breslow's photos are of museum quality.  If you happen to be shopping at a flea market someday for a nice picture frame and pick out one that seems to have an ordinary computer filter-altered photo within, check the photo for the Breslow name before you discard it, you may have stumbled across a rare and valuable unique work of American art.

NOTE:  The photos below were all printed on standard 8 1/2 by 11 paper, but have been reduced in size and/or cropped for this presentation.   On some plrints the information at the bottom has severly faded due to the passage of time and the quality of the paper or ink available when the prints were made.  All are dated 1994 through 1997, thus are at least eighteen to twenty-one years old at this time (June 2015).

 

 
  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 


  

 

http://shmedling.com

https://www.flickr.com/photos/norman_breslow/

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/norman_breslow/popular-interesting/

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/norman_breslow/random/