I should have thanked yourself and Klaus for seeing that there was something to
be discussed on an aesthetic level The point you make was the one I posed when
I raised the matter in the first place, initially on another list.
You say:
" Suitability between platinum and silver gelatine has to do with the
DURATION OF SEEING: needing no more than a glimpse for platinum, but
requiring a stare for silver gelatine. I wonder whether this is a rule,
and if so how can it be broken for aesthetic purposes?"
This thought arises from, so far as I understand, perception of a scene with
quite a high brightness range where it was possible to see into the shadows as
the eye adjusted itself. In the scene that gave rise to this discussion, the
dark area under the tower was surrounded by whitewashed walls on either side of
the opening under the tower and the also at the side of the camera viewpoint.
The contrast range was such that the brightness of the white was so great and
predominant that the pupil would not adjust itself to see into the shadows even
with a along stare. The camera lens with its iris staying at the aperture
decided upon by the photograher was recording the information in both the
highlights and the shadows. This meant that even with pt/pd paper accepting a
density range of 2.3 from the negative, the detail in the shadows stayed unseen
in the shadows in the print . Richard Ingle who, although he would demur, is one
of the finest silver gelatine printers I have come across, photographed the
scene a few moments later from the same point and with the same lighting
conditions. I believe he was using FP4 with pyro soda to give the full range of
tones on a soft negative whereas I wanted the full range of tones on a very
contrasty negative. Richard's print showed all the detail in the shadows but he
had masked the thinner parts of the neg even in his soft negative. They were
very different perceptions of the same scene. It gave rise to the question in my
mind as to whether there might be a platinum aesthetic different from the silver
gelatine aesthetic. Remember that neither of us could see into the shadows so
there was no question of there being a 'stare' for silver gelatine and a
'glance' for platinum. We should also remember that by manipulating the negative
or the print it would have been possible to print the shadow detail of the scene
onto the platinum paper as well. So whether the shadow detail was shown was a
decision for the photographer and whether platinum printing or silver gelatine
printing was used was irrelevant.; the decision depended on what the
photographer wanted to record.
You also say
" OUR WAYS ofLOOKING AT OBJECTS AND A SCENE DIRECTLY EFFECT OUR CHOICE OF A
PROCESS.
Some are more suited than others. " Artistic choice" begins in how we see
the world around us. "
There are both practical and aesthetic considerations. As It is easier to
manipulate a silver gelatine print than it is a platinum print. the chances are
weighted in favour of the loss of shadow detail and greater mystery if the print
is to be straight from an in camera negative.
Accordingly the platinum print is more likely to have more mystery.