[pure-silver] Re: The Quest and My Heresy??
- From: "EJ Neilsen" <ej@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:46:42 -0600
David Wrote... "The process does impact the image...... For me, "Moonrise"
is a rather mundane subject made beautiful by AA's darkroom skills."
Sitting here this morning reading the thread of the Quest requires my 2
cents : )
And I'll use David's point about Moonrise to make mine. The Moonrise image
may or may not be most spectacular image every made that will be determined
by how it attaches itself to the mind of the individual viewer. The fact
that the negative is not all that great technically speaks to a large part
of this thread. How many great images came from less than perfect negs?
Nobody knows or will ever no the answer to that question in numerical sense,
but in a less perfect way the answer is, it doesn't really matter. What
matters is how many make the effort. The effort is everything that happens
behind the print from location, format, the totality of the individual that
made the image. What is presented is ALL that should matter to the viewer.
The semi permeable membrane of life allows the two to interact. If Ansel's
moonrise didn't have an attraction, how many of us would know that the
negative was not technically perfect? Or what he may have thought to be
technically perfect for his needs, which is the far more important than what
we think of his negative. Some need to know what went on behinds the lens,
both camera and enlarger, and for others it is truly about the print and how
it makes you feel. There is no need to pass through the membrane and see
intent of the moment. There is a commercial on about great moments in
American sports moments that follows this somewhat. What if Michael Jordan
missed that shot against Cleveland, Dwight Clark didn't make that catch in
the back of the end zone? These things are great to discuss, but the print
of Moonrise did happen, and the shot of Penn's village people did get
printed in platinum. You can fight about what moment they became art but
they have.
Digging into an artist' file drawers after death is a curious endeavor. How
many of us would like to see our work prints viewed or negatives examined
with a fine tooth comb? We all have moments of lucid thoughts that lead to
WOWs, some even get seen or heard.
Eric
Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com
Skype ejprinter
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pure-silver-
> bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Koch, Gerald
> Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 8:44 AM
> To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [pure-silver] Re: The Quest and My Heresy??
>
> >Again, *in some cases*, the original image just acts as a canvas and
> it's the post-processing that creates the
> >WOW factor.
> >
> >There are various excellent examples in Tim Rudman's books where the
> straight prints look (sorry Tim !) just
> >boring but the final result is of another magnitude.
>
> I have a completely different take on this. If a straight print is
> boring then no amount of manipulation is going to turn that negative
> into a great photo. Just producing a striking print is not enought.
> There has to be someting there to start with. That's the reason that I
> don't tone or do anything else to my prints. If a negative can't speak
> for itself then nothing is going to help it and that's the end of it.
>
> Copying others is a good learning technique but not something that one
> wants to keep doing. I am reminded of the composer Engelbert
> Humperdinck who venerated the work of Wagner. Except for his opera
> Hansel and Gretel he comes off as a second rate, imitation Wagner.
> There are too many two bit Ansel Adams in photography today. To cite
> only one example.
>
> Jerry
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