Cactus, Cefalù - 5x5 Palladium Print

I can’t spend enough time in the darkroom right now. I am printing at a feverish pace.

La Rocca, Cefalù - 5x5 Palladium Print

Lo Zingaro - 5x5 Palladium Print

Lo Zingaro is a natural reserve near Scopello on the eastern coast of Sicily. It is rugged and beautiful, but most people are there for the beach rather than for the hiking. The beach is difficult to get to, nestled in a cove and completely sheltered from the outside world.

This is my first finished palladium print. It measures 5×5 inches and looks much, much nicer in real life than it does on the screen. I still need to make a few small adjustments to this image, but overall the process seems to be working quite well. More to come!

I have been holed up in my basement for the last two weeks, coming up for air only occasionally. I’m pretty sure my wife has forgotten what I look like by now. I’ve been hard at work developing my process for palladium printing with digital negatives. It has been hit-or-miss so far: these test charts represent only about half of the total work I’ve done in the darkroom. Some of the charts are getting close, but I’m still not really happy with any of them.

I am printing my digital negatives on Pictorico OHP using the QuadTone Rip software I discussed in my post on inkjet printing. Ron Reeder has written a good how-to guide on using QTR to control the ink deposition and contrast settings for digital negatives. The problem is that QTR isn’t very well documented and testing is very much a trial and error process. As I get closer to correcting one variable, all of the others seem to move around. Like herding cats, as they say.

In a fit of desperation, I went ahead and bought Mark Nelson’s Precision Digital Negatives e-book. It was not cheap, but I have read some of Nelson’s articles in various books and magazines and have gotten recommendations from other alt-process printers. PDN seems like a more systematic approach to calibrating the digital negative process. I have learned a lot in my first few weeks of printing, so even though I am starting out with a new calibration system, at least I am not starting from scratch. I think I will be producing my first palladium prints by September.

Oh, and I broke my first Puddle Pusher last night. Doug warned me that would probably happen, I should have ordered more than one!

Plate burner exposing a digital negative on Pt/Pd paper

All of my equipment and chemicals arrived last week, so I’m finally able to get started in the darkroom with platinum and palladium. So far I’m just doing exposure and calibration tests; nothing to report except that things seem to be doing what they’re supposed to be doing and that I’ve got a lot of work to do.

My wife and I went to Baltimore this weekend to visit friends (Mr. and Mrs. Curmudgeon), and I came across some great photography books in a used bookstore in Hampden. The copy of Winogrand’s Public Relations in the window drew me into the store, where I discovered two more fantastic books: The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot, and Unclassified—A Walker Evans Anthology. Needless to say, I bought all three.

Here’s my favorite photo from the Talbot book. This image is more than 150 years old and yet looks so modern to me:

Photo by William Henry Fox Talbot

We also made a quick side trip to Washington D.C. to see the Richard Misrach show at the National Gallery. The show is only open for two more weeks, I highly recommend it if you can make the trip. The next trip we’re making to D.C. is in January, when Robert Frank will be at the National Gallery, and Frank Gohlke will be at the Smithsonian. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an Obama inauguration.

Just as I am about to begin my own journey into the world of platinum-palladium printing, this gorgeous image arrived in my email inbox courtesy of 20×200.

Clearing, Wakehurst Place, by Beth Dow

I have been a fan of Beth Dow’s work for quite some time now, especially her “In the Garden” series, and always promised myself I would scoop up a medium sized print if one became available on 20×200. (Her originals are a bit out of my price range for now). Well today was the day, and all three editions sold out quite quickly, but I managed to get my order in and will give this print a good home.

I am leaving the heat of New York City for the heat of Sicily for a couple of weeks, so this is likely to be my last post before I go. I should have lots of exposed film when I return, but I won’t be posting very many photos right away. If all goes well, I will be printing the photos from this trip in platinum/palladium in the fall and creating a nice portfolio. That will be fun to watch, I am sure that learning platinum and palladium will give me lots to blog about when I get back.

See you in July!

I have been a fan of images printed on platinum and palladium for quite a while. A well done platinum image seems to float right off the paper; it’s some sort of magic having to do with the physical characteristics of the materials along with the slightly modified contrast (especially in highlights and mid-tones) that gives platinum images a very special look. As with most everything else photographic, you have to see the original prints, as reproductions tend to be a bit more flat and lose that 3-D effect.

Norwest Center, by Keith Taylor, platinum print, 2006.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to see as much original work on platinum as I’d like. It seems that most gallery shows I go to these days are all about BIG! COLOR! photos with very little new black and white work and only a tiny percentage of that being printed with platinum. Because of it’s dreamy and somewhat “old fashioned” look, it often appeals to sentimental types, and it’s not hard to find really overdone work in platinum as well. But there are a few contemporary artists who really nail it, and it’s exciting to see.

I bring this up because I am finally going to take the leap and start printing some of my own photographs in platinum/palladium. I am doing an independent study with Doug Schwab at Brooklyn College in the fall to learn how to make platinum/palladium prints from original 4×5 negatives as well as digital negatives from scanned medium format film.

I’m going to Sicily for a couple of weeks in June and I should be taking a lot of photos. I’m hoping to get started on a small addition to my darkroom for the necessary supplies and equipment when I get back, and after that, we’ll see what happens!

Links to a few contemporary photographers who are working in platinum and palladium:

Beth Dow
Keith Taylor
Craig Barber
Ronald Cowie
Alejandro López de Haro

A very nice write-up about Jen Bekman in the New York Times yesterday. Ms. Bekman’s gallery has a very interesting back story; I was surprised to hear that it has been such a struggle to keep the gallery going over the years considering the perceived high-profile it has had. Apparently she has everyone’s attention with her new affordable 20×200 venture, though, as this is just one of many articles I’ve seen about her in recent months. I know she has my attention, anyway—I’ve already bought several prints and I think I have space for just a few more.

I sadly missed out on the Brian Ulrich print, which sold out almost immediately. Brian Ulrich’s work is worderful. I did buy the smaller version of the Beth Dow print though, which is gorgeous, and I am anxiously awaiting the day when 20×200 releases another Beth Dow print so I can get one in a larger size.

Bags, by Beth Dow. Available at 20×200.

One of the great things about owning art, as an artist myself, is that I can go back to these high-quality prints again and again and study them. I have plenty of books from my favorite photographers, and many of them are printed exceptionally well, but it’s not quite the same as holding a print in your hand. Take Beth Dow, for example: I know that a $20 inkjet print can’t hold a candle to her original platinum prints, but they’re still a very high standard to follow when I’m printing my own work. I spent a few weeks this winter hunkered down over the ol’ Epson R2400, learning everything I could about black and white, and I really feel like my prints improved a tremendous amount in that short time. A little inspiration from looking at other artists’ work can go a long way.

Link: Article in the New York Times
Link: 20×200.com
Link: Jen Bekman Gallery