From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 02/10/03-02:19:19 AM Z
On Sun, 9 Feb 2003, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
> Yes, these are the two points I found interesting in the whole original
> convo--that the orginial test was used with 100% dichro, and we were taught
> in my class that the amount of pigment produced the stain, so to lessen the
> pigment. This is why I read and reread all the stuff, and I have your steps
> of testing to try.
Mike's theory was that getting viscous with exposure prevents the emulsion
from sinking into the paper & staining. It's my experience BTW that
in normal temperature & humidity, a good paper with gelatin size & proper
hardening doesn't pigment stain much anyway...so I think the whole Fear of
Pigment Stain thing is overblown, or sort of a rite of initiation, or
incantation... propitiation to the gum gods...
> Thank you, Judy, for getting my original point--the number and EGREGIOSITY
> of error. When I wrote my Experimental Photography Workbook, I fretted all
> the time if there were to be one PICKY detail wrong in there, and here I
> find this to be the case all over tarnation! This semester, I had written
> one sentence under my polaroid emulsion lift section that you could use type
> 664, 54, 804 etc (BW), although they take boiling and a 15 minute soak--in
> other words, they require way more process than normal 59 films. Sure
> enough, a student tried that and did not produce a final project because he
> couldn't get it to work (slacker student--he did it the last week of class,
> but nevertheless). I realized that I did not emphasize how hard it is to
> do, so I am taking that statement out in my next revision. But I sure feel
> bad about it.
Oh yeah, I know that teacher guilt... but that's something time cures --
and if the students are REALLY BAD you pick up your mistakes all the
quicker :-)
> <snips> Where is the alt photo research? Only us ! Judy
And here's the bad news-- you can try to correct stuff and show findings
and it's like hollering down a well... most of the folks perpetrating the
nonsense don't care... Your students and maybe even your colleagues will
be grateful, but not the perpetrators, the publishers surely don't
care.... they're selling s lot of glossy books, so who are we to argue
with them?
On the bright side, you get to be the secret genius...Of course you ARE a
genius, but you can't compete with mainstream press. I used to think I'd
write a book "Truth in Non-Silver," debunking bunk, but I only know my own
tiny corner of a vast field, and probably only a layer of the corner... I
sometimes think that if you get down through all the layers, then the
MISTAKE will be true... oh well, it's 3:08 AM. Think I ate too much
yogurt.
> I agree--where would I be without this list?? Even with the occasional
> grumps.
"The list" has gotten stuff into circulation, info, that wouldn't have
even existed otherwise,let alone circled the globe...
PS. On 3rd thought -- after you've gotten the kinks out with a few more
layers of students... you owe it to the world to take your "manual"to one
of the evil glossy book publishers... which of course would make you
an AUTHORITY !
cheerio,
Judy
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