I believe ever young photographer
desiring to create photographic Art, has a mentor. Not in the sense
of copying the inherent work of the mentor, but emulating the course
and direction of the photographer. Mine was Alfred Stieglitz. My
photographer friends had their own, one being Ansel Adams and his
Zone System, another was Edward Weston and his Day Books. Each avenue
defined what the photographer was seeking, the direction they wanted
their work to evolve. Alfred Stieglitz's legacy had to do with the
'approach' to photographic fine Art.
Within the umbrella of styles and print
mediums available traditional photographic printing and practice,
remains defining characteristics of what constitutes Art. Ergo,
reflectively it also defines that which is not Art. Yin & Yang
and all that. For Alfred, the angst of the time was the technological
advance of the 'automatic camera', aka Kodak's hand held roll film
camera one took with them on bicycling club tours to take snaps, then
send in the camera and have the film developed and prints made before
being sent back. Sound familiar? It wasn't so much the technology
that annoyed him, it was that the prints being sent back were then
hung on salon walls and sold as.... wait for it.... Art.
Technology hasn't slowed down, and for
anyone paying attention it has sped up, exponentially, with the
recurrence of the 'automatic' camera, beginning with roll film, then
progressing to digital 'throw away' cameras, left on tables at
weddings and other large social gatherings. Not that I'm ranting, but
that unfolded while I was being paid as an event photographer. That
service went the way of black smiths when Henry showed up. That
advancement didn't do professional event photographers any favors but
the advent of digital imagery has offered up a very nice gift for Art
photographers who practice printing hand coated processes. Finally,
that'd be me, now.
My interest with this page is offering
a look at the historical aspect of black and white photography in
general, the progressions made over the years, as well as examples of
hand coated processes. Sometimes even silver gelatin printing, which
has a long history of acceptance as collectable Art. To this day,
black and white photographs have been exhibited and collected.
Although the slice of this crowd is thin, it is loyal, and rewarding
for the serious photographer who endeavors to offer quality images in
traditional formats.
One of my disappointments with so many
photographers, especially of today, is selling their photographic
“artwork” in 'open additions'. But that's just me apparently.
Thirty years ago I owned a gallery, representing thirteen
accomplished photographers, five printing with platinum/palladium. No
piece of 'Art' hung there was in open editions. Every piece of
artwork that left that gallery had a certificate of authenticity
accompanying it. I did not perceive of those images as black and
white “pictures”, more copied posters. None of the limited
editions exceeded 25 prints.
My
expectations of a photographer I represented were certainly higher than
I see elsewhere. Certainly back then. Expectations would include length
of time as a photographer, with reciprocally a body of work to
demonstrate one's printing abilities, as well as consistency in print
and image quality. Basic understanding and mastery of the craft. Someone
with a year's experience and a half dozen mediocre prints to show,
would not quality as such. That describes an 'early' or 'young'
photographer, and there is nothing at all wrong with that. Just not to
consider someone who has learned the basics of a craft posing as a
master of the craft, or even competent. Would one pay high concert
prices to listen to a person or group entertain you with their music,
having first begun playing a year ago?
I
began photographing interesting places, and people when John F. Kennedy
was president. I've seen a lot of changes, socially and
photographically. What remains constant throughout is the timelessness
of black and white photography, in its various mediums, and the
processes that create the final prints. I will be discussing two facets
of the new technology of digital imagery, the digital print, and the
digital negative. Both are having a definite influence on the pubic, and
the photographers. The two halves of the whole. More on that next.
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