This image was taken in 1999, at a Pow Wow in Tucson, Arizona. Like the portfolio I have of Tombstone, AZ, with only period objects and dress are seen, with one caveat. Being we are in the age of digital imaging, my negatives are printed on an Epson 1430 printer, onto Arista II OHP transparency film [7-mil], after a journey through Lightroom 6, then on to Paintshop Pro X9, for prepping for the printer, flipping, adding an adjustment <curve> if needed, then sent to the printer. That takes two laptops, with each program nesting in its own environment. Not that I like that arrangement.
Paintshop Pro is Photoshop for digital photography, doing everything PS does, layering, masking, <curves> and things Photoshop can't do for photographic images. One of those very usable tools is the lovely clone tool. I particularly love that one, it can eliminate all manner of unwanted parts to an image. In the case of this image, that happened to be a line of EazyUp tents, and white folk standing about staring at Native American dancers in full regalia. What I saw, was the sacred Eagle Dance, on the plains, late afternoon. The clone brush made it so. Being a serial confessor, I will admit to a personal quirk of my work. In each of the prints I have of historical reference, somewhere in that image, there will be one subtle artifact that indicates it truer historical timeline. Something one would have to look for.
In this print, that one thing is the fourth dancer, in the background. A women, but wearing pants, not in Native dress. She is also facing the opposite direction than the male dancers. I hesitated several seconds before taking that shot, I saw the woman, at the time, facing the same direction as the men. I pulled back from the camera to see why she was there, to then see she was dancing in a woman's circle. as I returned to the view finder I saw she had reversed direction, now in opposition to the men, and, behind them enough that it pushed the mid-ground much further back, separating the dancers better from the background.Technically, most of these Indians aren't Plains Indians, as in Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, and the like. These were Mescalero and San Carlos Apache, Navajo, and probably Hopi.
Some of the things I want to do with the gum I didn't try here, as i didn't want experimental efforts on this image, or the other two that I will be printing soon. I wanted to keep the image respectful, and as close to the original colors and design as I could. I have attempted to print this image dozens of time, over the course of four years. Each and every attempt, regardless of the medium, ended up with a blemish in the print, and usually always in the sky, most times right over the dancer's heads. A line of little black lines, like birds in flight, circling overhead, or other iterations. Sometimes a smudge or line in a promenant spot. Dozens of times. When you live in the southwest long enough, legends tend to take on a different hue. The Natives do not like their likeness captured, especially without their knowledge or consent. Well, you know where that leads.
After promising the Grandfathers I would honor the dancers and only do one print each, if they'd allow me to come up with a pristine print. Yeah, I'm familiar with superstitious behavior, but I really wanted to print this image. Once the palladium image was on the paper, clean, the rest was making it come alive, as best I could. Again, it is the light I am most interested in. There are a number of colors in the image I am unable to see, some at all, being about 90% color blind to red/green. I print theoretically, using subtractive color theory. I know what it's supposed to look like. Best I can do.
The palladium print was printed on Revere Platinum paper, pre-shrunk before printing.
Gum over Palladium Print
"Sacred Dance" ~ 11x14 ~ Unique
Tucson, Arizona
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