From: Steve Bell (veracity000@earthlink.net)
Date: 12/15/02-11:36:48 PM Z
Hey Joe,
Although i can't offer you too much in the way of advice on your project, i
would like to express my interest in the idea. i share the same love of
50's and 60's era ads and propaganda, and to be honest, i got an idea just
this evening about emulating something like that. with gum, believe it or
not.
a few days ago i was looking through my parents' basement and found an old
book called 'the developing child' or something like that. it's an old
textbook from the 60's that i think was issued to my mom when she was in
nursing school. it has tons of graphics about how to raise a child and the
importance of child bearing to American society. i remember one graphic of
a mother with her child on her lap, looking out the window at children
playing on the playground, the caption said 'each generation ensures the
continuity of the race'. this gave me some ideas to do a series of photos
called 'the development of the child'. of course, i'm just toying with the
idea right now. you seem to really know what direction your going in.
i would love it if you would share your images with us/me when you get a
product that you're happy with. and maybe share some of your technical
information too.
good luck!
Steve
> [Original Message]
> From: Joe Tait <jtait@texas.net>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> Date: 12/16/2002 12:15:06 AM
> Subject: Gum & 50's Color Ad Aesthetic
>
> I have an enduring love affair with the complete unreality of 50'/60's
> advertisements & I have a few ideas that I would like to bite off that
look for,
> but have little experience shooting color and was seeking some advice.
>
> Are today's color emulsions just too clean and refined to get anywhere
close to
> what was used forty plus years ago? Are there lens filters out there that
could
> help the situation? I have taken initial shots with some older lenses
> (Koni-Omega Rapid & LF barrel lenses), and they are certainly more suited
in
> this situation to say my Nikon lenses, but I am definitely not getting a
> negative anywhere close to what I want. I am shooting this under tungsten
studio
> lighting with kodak supra.
>
> Gum seems the obvious choice for this. Should I not worry about the
negative as
> much and concentrate on gum's ability to be "painterly"? This will be my
first
> serious shot at gum....any suggestions on a substrate (preferebly _not_
paper)
> that would retain a decent amount of detail and allow me to get bold
color? I
> want a short scale, semi-blocked up shadows and high-contrast. These
prints are
> planned to be process prints, btw....
>
> Can you paint on top of gum with acrylic w/out an intermediate layer of
varnish?
> I would like to do just that in light washes with translucent liquitex
medium
> viscosity paints, but with a varnish layer I worry about the interaction
that
> makes glazing/washes so attractive.
>
> As a side note, what were the working process/techniques of the
press/graphic
> designers of the time? I see a lot of ads that are just b/w shots with
spot
> plates and are easy enough to duplicate, but most of my favorite ads
appear to
> be process. Was it just the emulsions, or manipulation of the separate
process
> plates? Maybe the instability of the inks? The color is just so off, but
> pleasing to the eye and expressive, makes me want to fear communism and
buy a
> toaster....
>
> -Joe
--- Steve Bell
--- Veracity000@earthlink.net
--- "We have...become our own thought police; but instead of calling the
process by which we limit our own expression of
dissent and wonder 'censorship', we call it 'concern for commercial
viability'." -David Mamet
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