"There's nothing worse than a sharp picture of a fuzzy concept"
The creation of art, no matter what the medium or style, invariably involves a certain amount of technique. And of all the arts, photography is definitely among the most technically complex. Unfortunately, these complexities often make taking photographs more of an intellectual process than one of artistic expression. I belive that achieving a comfort level with this side of photography is important to working expressively, much in the same way that a woodcarver's tools become extensions of his hands.
There is, of course, more than technique. Photographs can describe the pleasure of visual beauty, the pain of human injustice, the insights derived out of one's own unique awareness. For me, these aspects do not fit as easily within words as they do within pictures, and so I will instead provide a few details on the manner in which these images were produced. It's really more fun to look at photographs themselves, but just in case you were wondering...
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Camera
The images in these portfolios that predate 1999 were taken with either a Zone VI or Linhof 4x5 camera. All 1999 and later images were accomplished on a KB Canham DLC 45 (4x5) or KB Canham MQC 810 (8x10). The view camera has many features. It allows substantial control over depth of field and perspective and gives the photographer the ability to expose images on individual sheets of film. Its main attraction for me, however, is the size of the negative (or transparency) it produces. Enlargements from 35mm film cannot compare to those from 4x5 or 8x10 negatives. These images render startling detail, extremely fine resolution and smooth, subtle tonalities. Though it is cumbersome to transport, requires a tripod and setup time, and is vulnerable to damage in rough situations, the large format camera produces results that make these inconveniences bearable. I sometimes miss getting a shot due to the few extra minutes of setup time, but it makes the successes all the more satisfying.
Film Stock
Most of the portfolio images were made on Kodak's TMax 100 stock. This film has an extremely smooth, fine pallette of grays. Prints from TMax 100 come close to conveying the tonalities of a watercolor. On the down side, utilizing such slow stock with a large format camera and the usual cadre of filters sometimes necessitates exposure times of several minutes. The slightest wind can create noticeable movement in trees and grass, and coursing water resembles soft snowfall (though not necessarily a problem!). These issues add to the diffuculties of making large format negatives.
Exposure
Simply put: the Zone System. I use it more loosely these days than I used to, since with variable contrast papers there is so much latitude in the printing process. To produce a fully realized fine print I need only have a negative with sufficient shadow detail and with highlights that are not blocked. A great deal comes down to printing technique. In the rush to catch fading light or rapidly moving clouds, there is often only enough time to meter shadows and highlights and quickly compute a development time. I tend to think of the taking of a photograph as an act of the moment, and printing it more a matter of time.
Processing
All negatives receive processing in HC-110 developer. This liquid developer is usable in a wide range of dilutions for extensive control over negative contrast. Additionally it preserves superb detail and acutance in the image, albeit with a slight increase in the presence of grain. for years I used a homemade negative carrier made from a flat piece of plexiglas which holds 4 sheets of film face up and apart from each other in the developing solution. This avoids interleaving loose film, something that always seems to scratch TMax. It also makes them easier to agitate and move between trays. I've included directions here for making your own. I am currently using a JoBo Processor, which gives the same results but allows larger quantities of negatives to be processed simultaneously.
Printing
Volumes could be, and have been, written on this subject. I have found that printing requires more practice than anything else in photography. I produce photographic prints by two methods: traditional darkroom and digital methods. Here is a little information about each.
Darkroom
I have attempted to make my darkroom as pleasant a place to work in as possible, an encouragement to stay in there working. My enlargers are outfitted with diffusion light heads, which better render subtle highlight detail and generally softer tonalities than do condensers. This is a personal preference, though many fine printmakers have adopted this methodology. I currently use Ilford Multigrade IV paper for all work, it's variable contrast feature allows for incredible control over print values. I use selenium toner in the final stage of processing to impart archival qualities to the print, and it serves too further deepen the blacks.
Digital
Today, modern digital printmaking has arrived at a point where prints rival those of the darkroom in quality. In some respects, I consider digital prints to be better. This is an evolving medium, and I have waited to work in it until the output has matured and I can sell my clients prints with the confidence that they will live as long as a silver print would. I make very high resolution drum scans of the negatives on a ScanMate 11000. These are then "burned and dodged" in Photoshop in much the same way as they would be under the enlarger but with a higher degree of precision. Finally they are output on Epson 7000 and 9000 printers utilizing state of the art pigment inks which employ finely ground carbon particles as their colorants. Carbon is extremely stabile and is the reason these prints will be long lived. All prints are produced on the highest quality German cotton rag paper, which is archival.
I think that most printers would agree that exploring the many variations in contrast, burning and dodging takes up much of the time of printmaking. Often it is a matter of days as opposed to hours before dodge/burn patterns are decided upon. In contrast to this laborious process of creating a fully-realized print, however, the production of a limited edition is simply a matter of following the same patterns over and over again in the darkroom, or, in the case of digital, of printing the finished file in a calibrated workflow to ensure consistency.
All my prints receive archival processing from start to finish for maximum image stability. Each is air dried, then dry mounted on 100% pure cotton rag museum board. If properly cared for by it's owner, each should last for more than 100 years without visible loss of quality.
For further information or questions email me at: phil@philbard.com