Digital BW, The Print

Jerry wrote:

>Ansel Adams manipulated his prints as much as they
>could possibly be manipulated, in the darkroom.
>Suggest you read his "The Making of 40
>Photographs", which tells how he manipulated them, and why.

But this was within the limits of an understood ethic.  There were (I
believe and hope) no composites -- no huge full moons were artificially
stuck into the photos.

For example, to me, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico" benefits from the
increased sky contrast that AA put into the later versions of the photo, but
if that moon turns out to be artificially stuck in there -- or, for that
matter, enlarged in size or moved -- my regard for the photo and AA would be
decreased substantially.

Part of the "straight photography" genre that I'm attempting to describe is,
I believe, that every significant element or physical object in the final
print is also on the negative and in the same physical position or
relationship to the other parts of the photo.  (And, I suppose, no one is
hanging a moon or flying saucer model from a fishing line in the scene, like
a low-budget Ed Wood sci-fi flick.)

I think the way this thread started was an attempt to define or label a
category of photography.  Again, this is not saying that this "straight"
photography, if that old term is appropriate, is better or worse than the
many other categories of the medium.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com
__________________________________


Loris Medici wrote:
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Paul Roark [mailto:paul.roark@...]
> > Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2003 10:57 PM
> > To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Re: un-altered camera image
> >
> > ...
> > "With Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, and a handful of
> > other photographers, Adams founded in the early 1930s Group
> > f/64, which was dedicated to straight photography as an art
> > form. Photography at the time was dominated by the
> > "pictorialists," who created staged, artificial (and now
> > largely forgotten) photographs that imitated the conventions
>
> Just to address the sarcasm enclosed in parenthesis: I simply don't
> beleive that Joel-Peter Witkin's (which is not the only photographer to
> present staged, artificial photographs) work will be forgotten in the
> future...
>
> > of painting. Adams was instrumental in the struggle to gain
> > for photography recognition as art on its own merits."
> > <http://www.turtlebay.org/exhibitions/anseladams/pg04.html>
> > ...
>
> > ...
> > Near the end of his life, Adams produced prints
> > intended to represent his life's work not just as a series of
> > landscape images but as a panorama of the possibilities of
> > the "straight," unmanipulated style to which he adhered."
>
> I don't consider AA's work unmanipulated at all. Did you see the
> straight print of "Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite" in his book "The
> Print"? It has nothing to do with the "finished" print presented few
> pages later. If his photographs were not manipulated the contact print
> and the enlargement of the same negative would look identical apart the
> sizing (which is impossible in the case of AA).
>
> http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adams/adams_clearing_winter_stor
> m_full.html (this is not the best reproduction though)
>
> > ...
>
> Regards,
> Loris.
>
>
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and
other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
>
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
page.
>
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - Include your full name with your message.
> - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
> - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
> - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or
&amp;amp;quot;flames.&amp;amp;quot;
> - Complete your Yahoo profile.
> - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
resources on the homepage.
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/


Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and
other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
page.

Please follow these basic guidelines:
- Include your full name with your message.
- Include the address of your website, if you have one.
- As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
- As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or
&amp;amp;quot;flames.&amp;amp;quot;
- Complete your Yahoo profile.
- Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
resources on the homepage.




Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/