From: photo (photo@wir.net)
Date: 12/14/00-11:45:31 PM Z
Judy Seigel wrote:
(snip)
"I agree -- although the work *looked* wonderful, I felt frustrated, that I
didn't really get a sense of what the actual print was actually like."
In the early 90's, I began experimenting with cyanotype and gum, guided by
recipes in THE KEEPERS OF LIGHT. The photographs in that book piqued my
interest, but the reproductions failed to fully convey the power of actual
prints.
In September '92, I drove down to The Art Museum at Princeton University, to
view the exhibit "The Art of Pictorial Photography 1890-1925". I was
delighted to see so many beautiful gum, platinum, albumen, carbon, bromoil,
and autochrome prints from prominent photographers of that era. I spent
hours at the exhibit, marvelling at the technical quality and emotional
depth of the work. Several gum prints, rich in tone and full of detail,
were especially impressive. Until then, my only exposure to gum (besides my
initial experiments) had been a handful of weak 'fuzzy-mud' gum prints I had
seen in a NYC gallery.
Excited by the work I'd seen in Princeton, I began a series of 11x14 and
16x20" gum prints, using enlarged negatives derived from 4x5 originals.
With rigorous attention to detail and quality control, I quickly disproved
the 'experts' in the books, who claimed that the gum process cannot hold
fine detail. I began to really appreciate the physical beauty of gum
prints; from their dense, lustrous shadows to the delicate transparency of
colorful highlights clinging to the paper's rough surface.
Besides my own work, I've seen very few actual gum prints. (Sometimes I
wish I still lived in the NYC metro area!). Although low-resolution JPG's
on a website are a compromise, I really enjoyed the "All Gum Show online
exhibit" - work that I would otherwise not have seen, living here in NW
Wyoming.
Best regards,
Cactus Cowboy
P.S. - Thanks to all who shared the excellent tips & suggestions for
teaching an alt-photo weekend workshop.
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