On display were the 1996 Annual Portrait award winners and an exhibition
of John Swanelle's portraits of celebreties and famous photographers.
I recommend both exhibitions (free admission too).
In addition to being outstanding portraits, Swanelle's B&W images
were beautifully printed. All of the images were Iris prints which
were printed by "Tapestry", a local London custom lab. Generally
speaking, the prints were neutral to slightly warmed toned,
the unique thing about each image is that there was a slight tonal
shift from neutral to warm depending on the density in the print.
It was a really subtle thing that added a unique depth to each image.
The watermark on each print was clearly visible: Arches Aquarelle.
Around the corner, one of the Annual portrait winners caught my
attention. It was a large low-contrast B&W (silver print) of a baby's
face. The whole face was a neutral grey tone with the exception of
the eyes which were a rich brown. The book that memorializes the
exhibition states that the photographer used a soft working Metol
developer to make a low contrast print. The print was then warmed
toned until the eyes developed the rich brown tone. This print was
a particularly effective use of controlled toning. I do like it a lot
even if it is not, strictly speaking, alternative photography.
I also managed to drop in to the mid-town ICP in New York, a few days
earlier where Linda McCartny's "Roadworks" images are on display.
The colour images were quite soft-toned and described as "ink-jet" prints.
I saw these images in her book before coming to the show and I have to
admit that I enjoyed the actual prints a lot more than the reproductions
in the book. Anyways, these images are on display until Feb 9th.
Happy Holidays to all.