........and then, in the same paragraph........
< I would (as would many others) love to experiemnt with some of his
fresson-like paper <were he to make it avaiable.
At this time of the renaissance of early photo techniques
there must surely be, in the U.S. alone, thousands of people with similar
desires to experiment with something new like Direct Carbon paper. That's
just the experimenters.
Then we have the non-technical process camera operators who
can appreciate the look of a print but do not care to get their hands wet,
who would be prepared to risk some finance if they could see some samples of
Direct Carbon ( or Fresson).
Then there are the students coming into photo image making
who are being fed the same old straight silver system as the standard
before being allowed to try off beat processes ( but this does not seem to
include electronic imaging which has been accepted, wholeheartedly, of course
for use in the printing and publishing industries). Silver
technology became the standard for many reasons especially because of the
ease of mass production and processing in all of the areas in which
photography is used, today ( "The Photographic Age") as there have been very
pressing priorities which have taken up the attention of scientific research
into photography since its discovery only approx 160 years ago , in all
walks of life.
The use of photo image making in Fine Art has always taken
a back seat and, it seems, is still not accepted, openly, by one of Britains
largest cultural institutes, the Royal Academy of Arts. But gradual inroads
are being made even there with work in hand coloured Photo Gravure by
Jennifer Dickson, R A which has been appearing in the Summer shows for, at
least, the the past five years.
Luis wrote........
< There would probably be a small market but the process is very labor
<intensive (read expensive) compared to say, platinum paper which requires
<only one coat brushed on and then it's ready to use in minutes. Monochrome
<Fresson requires several emulsions prepared in advance, coatings, cleaning,
<etc. It takes days. It's messy and no fun at all.
O.K. Luis, You do it your way......." It's messy and no fun,
at all". But discerning people may accept there have been successful methods
produced since your books were published with the fifteen, or so, formulas
designed to "keep us out of trouble for the next twenty years", which do not
conform to this pessimistic attitude.
Art Chakalis is pushing forward with his research inspite
of the fact that it is not Fresson and David Soemarko has still to view a
Fresson. For myself , I hope I have seen through what has been going on, but
do not need a booster for my ego by trying to equate with the exotic rhetoric
which has become the packaging of this Fresson PROCESS
.....................Yes, I wrote,
< I hope I have seen through what has been going on,
More later. John Grocott-Photographist (London U.K.)