Marked Up Photographs Show How Iconic Prints Were Edited in the Darkroom

[kehng]

And here I was thinking just buying a Leica would make all my photos iconic...

:bang:

http://petapixel.com/2013/09/12/mar...-prints-edited-darkroom/#.VHOEOhGTS7R.twitter

 

[daveleo]

Yeh, and people say we "cheat" when we postprocess images by computer. It is to laugh.

 

[FrozenInTime]

Those would be a good subject for a book - a triptych : straight print or negative , markup and final print.

 

[j.scooter]

Interesting link thanks for posting.

I would like to learn those darkroom techniques, I have a few books but wouldn't be great to see a master printer at work.

 

[shadowfox]

I've seen those marked up prints before.

I fully acknowledge and marvel at the skill, but I have no desire to study and emulate those.

In the darkroom, it's my space to be creative. I learned the basics from the books, and then come up with my own way of printing. This is why working in the darkroom for me is such a joy and exhilarating practice.

Digitally processing my photos (which I also do) can never compete in terms of satisfaction.

 

[aizan]

cool, but what do things like "+5/0" mean?

 

[daveleo]

........

In the darkroom, it's my space to be creative. I learned the basics from the books, and then come up with my own way of printing. This is why working in the darkroom for me is such a joy and exhilarating practice.

Digitally processing my photos (which I also do) can never compete in terms of satisfaction.

Even though I am a digital manipulator, I thoroughly understand this. I can imagine that (to some people) the physical process in the darkroom would be more personal (is that a good word?) between the photographer and the final image.

 

[John Bragg]

Mind blowingly complex manipulations to get a perfect print. Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing the link. Makes me want to get the enlarger out of mothballs and have a go again.

 

[CamB]

cool, but what do things like "+5/0" mean?

I'll hazard a guess at # of seconds / filter grade, for split grade printing.

There's an interesting Ansel Adams video (one of many) on YouTube that shows a degree of what he did in the darkroom (and suggests developer is not that bad for your skin given the age he lived to).

http://youtu.be/M-BhJQqHXfQ

 

[NY_Dan]

Avedon marked up prints too. If you're the printer, it's much easier to remember how you printed a negative. Same thing if you have a complicated still life lighting set-up. You can use poly contrast and have different areas at different contrasts. The computer makes it much easier and cheaper (less paper waste) -- but the same thought processes are at work -- more or less.

 

[bence8810]

The computer makes it much easier and cheaper (less paper waste) -- but the same thought processes are at work -- more or less.

And that Undo button also helps a lot.... not to mention layers.

Having said that though - I much prefer the darkroom printing - the joy of getting something right is just incredible. And of course you'll end up with something tangible once the water drips away from the print by the time you come back to collect it in the morning.

Ben