Steve Shapiro (sgshiya@redshift.com)
Sun, 31 Jan 1999 10:56:08 -0800
Subject: Re: Re: tri-x and bpf 200
>In a message dated 1/30/99, AM 01:35:17,
alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca
>writes:
><<Okay, I'll take you up on that, and I believe a better negative can be
made
>with 'out of the can' developer when used by someone who knows what they've
>got than any PMK developer.
>>>
>
>Steve, thanks for your confidence.
>
>But to tell you the truth, I do not know yet if the abovementioned is true.
I
>just have an interest in finding out whether that is true. Unfortunately,
>having such an interest is considered bad or bashing.... :(
>
>I don't think I have ever bashed anybody or anygroup for any reason in my
>whole life. That's just not me, but what can I say....
>
>
>sighing,
>Dave
I'm not intending to do any bashing. I simply think PMK is 1) Not true pyro
and 2) a big to-do of something new.
The qualities of less grain is truly there, but with respect to what I look
for in a perfect negative, 'everytime' is not in the equasion.
I have found the Bergger film is very responsive to almost any process of
preference, which makes it a wonderful choice for many of us who all have
different techniques and criteria for negative and subsequent print making.
I want to get out of the darkroom and gross equipment needs. With large
format negs and alternative processes, I can make pictures from views,
objects and people I happen to love.
The hard thing to explain is what is that elusive quality each negative has
of it's own merits, and I describe it as a jello like quality to the image
produced. The wonderful article in VC where Hutchins did a picture of his
darkroom shack and all that proved only one thing, to me. His idea of a
perfect image and mine clash.
Burnbaum does these lessons and takes wonderful images, great photographs
and manipulates them to death turning out perfect examples of some tchnique
or other but leaving me cold in the traces of the first picture that had
more feeling of the moment and representation of the object photographed.
The latest show at our Center of Photographic Arts, in Carmel had lots of
the local masters showing 16X20s that were very grainy. It's a trend. Look
at Michael Kenna's 25 year retrospective. All, very grainey and I have seen
his very clear silver gelatin work, too. Yet, there was still something
missing.
This 3 dimentional quality is elusive.
S. Shapiro
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