Keith Schreiber (stillpoint@worldnet.att.net)
Mon, 15 Feb 1999 03:14:23 -0700
Curtis wrote:
>Does anyone have any information on Mortensen? Anybody on this list go
>to his school? Anybody know where to find copies of the letters in
>Camera craft Magazine between him and Ansel Adams?
I think the CCP library has a complete collection of Camera Craft. Several
years ago when the reassembled F/64 show ("Seeing Straight") was touring and
made a stop at CCP, someone on the staff put together a little auxilliary
show drawn from the Adams/Mortensen exchange in Camera Craft.
>I have been to Tucson and viewed the material. I also think that the
>book, "Mortensen, a Revival", leads to more confusion than
>understanding. Some of the people at the CCP were not overjoyed with
>the book, esp the essay by Diane Dillon.
I used to work at CCP (quit last September) and I guess I'd have to say that
some of us thought that the essays would be something a bit more substantial
than speculation about his sexual inclinations. Most of us didn't get to
read the essays until the book was printed.
>The book had poor reproductions and were mis-informative of even what
>the center has on him.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by the second part of that statement,
except perhaps that the book is not a catalog of CCP's holdings, which it's
not. As for the first part, I have to take that a bit personally since it
was my job to make the reproduction prints and transparencies that went to
the printer. My goal was always to be as true to the original as possible,
i.e to reproduce them as they are without embellishment. Don't forget that
these are objects in a museum collection. Some of the prints, especially the
regular old gelatin silver prints, are in rather poor condition with visible
oxidation and such. You say that you have viewed the material so you must be
aware of this. As I examine the book here in front of me, I note that some
of the halftones are indeed a little anemic (p. 41, 45, 66 & 70). However, I
think the color plates are excellent, as are most of the document
reproductions. (I pushed for more color plates from transparencies, but the
budget would not allow for it.) But I'm always open to constructive
criticism, so please tell me what you think was so poor and how I could have
helped to make it better. Of course, don't forget that once it goes to the
printer it's out of my control, though someone from CCP supposedly does a
press check. Seriously, I think that if you had the opportunity to to
compare the originals, the repro- prints and transparencies, and the book
all together, you would agree that the book reproductions are quite
accurate.
And Judy wrote:
>> It is claimed that Edward Weston based his methods on Mortensen's --
maybe
>> so. But for sure not his esthetic. (Of course if I had to choose between
>> the two oeuvres I'd be in trouble... but I guess that's another article.)
I'm trying to wrap my mind around that thought but I just can't seem to
grasp it. By who? where? when? based on what? Please, do tell ::)
Cheers,
Keith
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Nov 06 1999 - 10:06:50