Continuing the Portfolio

Thanks to PJ I have three new negatives to take with me to the darkroom tomorrow to continue the portfolio. As exciting as that is for me, even more titillating is my old friend Harry arriving on Wednesday to begin the work of remodeling my current workshop into a custom printing room, after, building a new workshop & tool shed before making over my printing space. Two phases to be completed before month's end. Then the prints will come fast and furious, ten steps outside my back door to the printing room.

For now, I can keep the focus on the printing at hand, which is finally calibrated well to the processes involved. I have been printing in salted silver (salt paper) and Kallitype, then toning the prints in palladium, for the most part. I have been focusing on these two mediums to begin with as they are more straight forward than gum prints. Having spent an afternoon with a new found photographer friend, enjoying the hung prints at the Center for Create Photography on the UA campus, and a special viewing of W. Eugene Smith photographs upstairs, then on to the Etherton gallery to view a show including Roger Ballen, and the prices on his prints should make any photographer take notice. Apparently I haven't been paying attention to exhibitions over the past years. A fine discussion for another time.

Now that I have settled into a known routine for scaling negatives, there isn't much to discuss on that front, unless someone actually queries on that subject. What did come up in the discussions with my friend yesterday, was the ongoing photographic courses he is taking at the community college. All I will say on that front is to repeat what I have said before. Teaching general photography in a classroom setting, as well as photo journalism, event photography, commercial photography and the like can be useful. Attempting to teach fine art photography in a classroom tends to be a disaster. When I heard the curriculum and approach to hand coated processes, and the outcome, well, I kept my thoughts to myself.

Having been away from printing as long as I have has some big downsides, like not knowing the photographers who have kept to historical hand coated processes and stay with them. My friend left me with a link to such a photographer's website, who works in historical processes and can actually print well in gum, a very rare talent these days. I don't believe this young woman would mind my mentioning her here; dh bloomfield photography: http://www.dhbloomfield.com I applaud all those who keep the historical processes alive and well. Hopefully I will have an opportunity to meet this printer and see more of her work. In my thinking, there are advantages to gathering talent within a group effort to fortify and enhance all involved. Such a group effort within hand coated print makers to come together would be beneficial for everyone. I'm working on that.