Digital BW, The Print

At 10:41 PM -0400 5/5/02, Gregory Popovitch wrote:
>
>"I would venture that it will still be a while before 99% of silver printers
>can replicate the glow and luminescence of a Kenna or Sexton."
>
>I think these comments are very true, and explain why inkjet prints are not
>as acceptable today for galleries (and collectors):
>
>1- the best silver printers (the ones collected and found in galleries) can
>   produce prints better than today's inkjet technology (at least for small
>prints,
>   11x14 and smaller, like Michael Kenna's).


I will make this brief and too the point...

Gregory, in all due respect, your comparing apples and 
oranges...Silver prints are not platinum and silver prints are not 
van dyke brown prints nor are they cyanotypes....all have their own 
look as do the many variants of inkjet printing...

Second, believe me, your brother in law ( I assume you used him as an 
example because he is not a photographer) cannot produce these prints 
on his 1280. It takes a lot more skill than just hitting the print 
button...you are forgetting the Photoshop steps as well as the skill 
the photographer has in making the original image..

Finally, no one would buy anything in your final straw man scenario 
where buyers wait until eternity because waiting always gets improved 
technology.

Nice try and provocative, but the arguments don't hold up.

all the best,

Bill Agee


the rest of the original post is below....

>
>but more important:
>
>2- producing a great silver print, of the caliber that ends up in galleries,
>requires
>   a mastery that is achieved by a very small percentage of printers. Because
>these
>   great silver printers are few, great silver prints are rare and not easily
>duplicated!
>
>And it is really the print itself which is important! I've read that once
>behind glass,
>you can't tell an inkjet print from a silver print. So what? You can't tell
>either a
>lenswork special edition (or even a very well printed duotone) from the
>original silver print
>behind glass without a loupe, but nobody is surprised that these sell for
>much less
>than an original print. It is because a great silver print is a rare object,
>not easily
>duplicated.
>
>Now is this true for an inkjet print? Are there some inkjet prints that
>really shine, and
>of a quality unreachable for 99% of those who try. Is is really hard to
>print hundred's
>of them if needed? What if I use your file, your printer, same ink, curves,
>paper, RIP, etc...
>
>You guys even say it all the time. You get better prints with your Epsons
>than you ever got
>in the darkroom, and some of you have probably spent decades becoming silver
>(or platinum)
>printers and a couple years with your Epsons. Obviously, it is easier to
>make great inkjet
>prints... which makes a great inkjet print not so exciting anymore.
>
>I think Mark Tucker talked about doing something to his prints to make them
>unique.
>I do think this is the one way to get inkjets accepted (especially if this
>something is
>unique, difficult, and requires some mastery). For example Dan Burkholder
>makes platinum
>prints from digital negatives, and then adds color using an inkjet printer.
>If I was a gallery
>owner, I think I'd be somewhat impressed because this process is new,
>requires an exacting
>technique, and won't be easily duplicated by my brother in law with his
>1280.
>
>Also you have to worry about the pace of progress in digital technology:
>
>If I buy this great inkjet print, maybe in a couple years the new Epson
>70000 with its
>4000dpi, 10 ink tanks, 1000 year pigments and enhanced diffusion dither will
>allow Dan
>to make *much* better prints. Hopefully, my 2002 print will keep its value
>because it is
>vintage :-)
>
>True, silver papers and processes evolve too, but nowhere as fast as digital
>technology.
>
>Anyway, these are some thoughts. I hope I didn't offend anyone. I really
>enjoy this
>forum and the quality of its participants.
>
>Gregory Popovitch
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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-- 

b i l l  a g e e  s t u d i o
c a p i s t r a n o  b e a c h  c a l i f o r n i a

billagee@...
http://www.redsilver.com