[pure-silver] Re: Oriental Seagull Papers
- From: "BOB KISS" <bobkiss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:03:31 -0400
DEAR MARK,
Curious, but things either always bother me or bother me from
time to time, not both. ;-))
All seriousness aside, photography is both a visual art and a
craft and we are both artists and craft persons. We have a vision and need
materials with which to express that vision.and now we find the number of
options for silver gelatin printing materials contracting. This is why I
started using alternative processes (platinum/palladium, cyanotype, salt and
albumen prints); I can sensitize the printing materials myself.and make the
actual paper if I am sufficiently masochistic. And I may even try
collodion negatives, just like Brady & Co. I find alt processes exciting
because there are SO many options with which to express my vision. Now when
I have a visual inspiration I expose and process the negative taking into
account my previsualization of the final print including the printing medium
I will use. Some things look fantastic in cyano which would look boring in
PT/PD. Some glow with a rich warmth in PT/PD which look, literally, cold in
cyano. And some of my visions are best expressed in toned silver gelatin.
I don't consider a discussion of options for printing paper
obsessing about materials when so many are disappearing. Painters need to
decide; acrylic or oils, cotton canvas or linen, etc. Have you ever tried
to find genuine Blue-Marine these days? I mean the kind described in the
book "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling"? It was made from (I think)
abalone shells. Most modern oil paints are made from other kinds of
pigments and look great but they just don't have the color you will see on
the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
I agree that there are some who obsess but, in the present context, I don't
feel that is the case.
CHEERS!
BOB
_____
From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Blackwell
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 10:27 PM
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Oriental Seagull Papers
Something that always bothers me from time to time. Do we get caught up too
often in what paper we use, what settings are on the camera and what
developer happens to be available at any given time?
Look at some of what Mathew Brady's people did during the US civil war
(1860s now) when they were not only developing but making their own plates
for immediate use in either tents or wagons.
A more modern example how many of you looked and saw what Becky Lynn did in
a goat shed?
That's not to say that we shouldn't explore all areas of the art, but maybe
sometimes we get too caught up in what we don't have instead of making the
most of what we have available.
Mark
_____
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