Show Stoppers

diet of film. In the context of these photos, that fact contains a
bit of irony as well: A critical component of film – a purified
version of edible gelatin made from animal hides and bones –
generated farm and ranch income. Today, of course, the digital
camera has taken over.

Today amateur photographers happily fill cards with digital
images. The camera spits out a piece of plastic scarcely bigger
than a 50-cent piece; next thing you know an image appears on the
computer screen. Press another key and the image flies across the
country to Uncle Bob’s computer through, as the magician used to
say, “thin air.”

Much changes; much does not. Our heads are left spinning by the
rapid advance of technology. But the magic of the photograph not
only endures, it triumphs, really. All this newfangled technology,
after all, exists to elevate the lowly photo, not replace it. What
else can capture a scene with such immediacy or communicate an
emotion so vividly? Take some time to savor these seven pages of
photos of the 2008 show season and relive the magic!