CK Dexter Haven
Well-known
I have a few of Mr. Erwitt's books and consider myself to be a 'fan' of his work. I was not prepared, though, for what i saw at the International Center of Photography this evening.
The prints are really magnificent. Images are produced beautifully in the books, but the exhibition prints are HUGE. Seemingly something like 24" x 36" for many of them, and lusciously printed. Images that i admired in the books were just spectacular in large scale. And, images i didn't appreciate that much were just 'better' in person. I haven't heard much about this show, but I consider it a 'must see' for anyone interested in classic (rangefinder) photography.
I came away with some other feelings.... With all of the constant bitching and griping among various forum members, about lens sharpness and how whichever piece of gear doesn't do this or that... it's inspiring to see how fantastic a grainy 35mm piece of film shot with a 1950 lens can be. And, the grain is delicious in and of itself. Wow. There were a couple of proof sheets in cases, and it seems he shot a fair amount of Super XX.... I also noted how much i liked the older, grainier images, versus the more recent, more clinically sharp and less grainy photographs. Makes me want to just shoot Tri-X, forget about medium format and digital.... Of course, this will last only as long as i can stay away from the internet or my book collection....
And there were a number of images that really weren't 'sharp' sharp. What i found interesting is that in Erwitt's photographs, that didn't matter to me. However, when i viewed the HC-B exhibit last year, HIS technical issues DID bother me, and i saw them as mistakes. I haven't changed my perspective. It just seemed that Erwitt's 'blur' was beautiful and HC-B's was (forgive me) amateurish or lazy. But, skip that argument, and visit ICP if you have the opportunity.
There's also a nice, but small, exhibition of Ruth Gruber's work, with a bit of a video documentary.
The prints are really magnificent. Images are produced beautifully in the books, but the exhibition prints are HUGE. Seemingly something like 24" x 36" for many of them, and lusciously printed. Images that i admired in the books were just spectacular in large scale. And, images i didn't appreciate that much were just 'better' in person. I haven't heard much about this show, but I consider it a 'must see' for anyone interested in classic (rangefinder) photography.
I came away with some other feelings.... With all of the constant bitching and griping among various forum members, about lens sharpness and how whichever piece of gear doesn't do this or that... it's inspiring to see how fantastic a grainy 35mm piece of film shot with a 1950 lens can be. And, the grain is delicious in and of itself. Wow. There were a couple of proof sheets in cases, and it seems he shot a fair amount of Super XX.... I also noted how much i liked the older, grainier images, versus the more recent, more clinically sharp and less grainy photographs. Makes me want to just shoot Tri-X, forget about medium format and digital.... Of course, this will last only as long as i can stay away from the internet or my book collection....
And there were a number of images that really weren't 'sharp' sharp. What i found interesting is that in Erwitt's photographs, that didn't matter to me. However, when i viewed the HC-B exhibit last year, HIS technical issues DID bother me, and i saw them as mistakes. I haven't changed my perspective. It just seemed that Erwitt's 'blur' was beautiful and HC-B's was (forgive me) amateurish or lazy. But, skip that argument, and visit ICP if you have the opportunity.
There's also a nice, but small, exhibition of Ruth Gruber's work, with a bit of a video documentary.
