[rollei_list] Re: Marvin Wallace and I Disagree

At 08:05 PM 9/24/2008, Jim Brick wrote, in part:


I agree with Marc 200% on this. Maybe even 300%!
Living on the West (left) Coast, near Ansel Adams' home, as I was growing up, photographing along the coast, I would meet-up with Ansel. We were acquaintances. I have seen many of Ansel's proof prints (first prints from a 4x5 or 8x10 neg), full frame. Not only does his final display prints from these negs not look anything like the first proof print, they are all CROPPED!
I can confirm that based on the experience of a very good friend I knew from grade school through college, although he split to a different campus when he got into med school.
My friend lived his final 40+ years in Santa Clara and told me about his visit to Adams' house to buy a print. Adams had most of the prints he was selling hanging on roll out sticks with the negative in an attached envelope.
Ken and Ruth picked out what they wanted, and Adams pulled the negative envelope, which had hand-written and detailed notes on how to crop, burn and dodge the final print, to be printed using that prescription by an assistant.
The order was placed, the print was done according to the notes, and a week or so later the print arrived in Santa Clara. Adams had taken the picture, made the first few prints, then written the prescription for future prints.
When you think about it, that's not much different from the way Rubens did his paintings, or
Dale Chihuly [http://www.okcmoa.com/] did his glass. I've been to Rubens' home and to the Oklahoma museum which has a large Chihuly collection. In both cases the artist did, in most cases, just sketch out what he wanted, had craftsmen do the hard work, and the artist then did some touch up and signed the piece.
(I forgot which picture they bought, but remember seeing it whenever I went up to visit. Maybe a Bcc: person on this list will remind me. It was one of the 5-6 most known ones as I recall.)
Now, to start a new controversy, does anyone have any opinions on the photographic work of Don Imus and his brother? 

DAW

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