Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Peter De Smidt
<pdesmidt@T...> wrote:
> Carl Schofield wrote:
> 
> >Yes, but read this:
> >http://brooksjensenarts.com/pigmentonpaper.htm
> >  
> >
> Yep.  I know. That doesn't take away from the fact that Lensworks 
> Special Edition prints, the ones  made by contact printing a negative 
> made on an imagesetter on Ilford FB paper, are very nice prints.

Mind if I add my two cents?
First, thanks for the compliments. I really do appreciate them.
Second, there is a fundamental difference between our LensWork Special
Editions prints in gelatin silver and my personal work, now
pigment-on-paper. In the former we are challenged with making an exact
replication of the photographer's original print -- the image,
tonalities, and medium. The goal is to make the reproductions
"visually indistinguishable" from the original -- a goal which I
believe we achieved. In the case of my personal artwork, I am free to
use whatever means are at my disposal to create whatever artistic
statement I choose to. I consider myself (gosh this sounds
braggadocios!) an accomplished gelatin silver printer. Nonetheless, I
now choose to work in pigment because it is unquestionably the best
medium for my personal work. Of course, this is entirely a statement
about me and my work and not at all any sort of indictment of gelatin
silver.
Having said that, I must be candidly honest and admit that we have now
officially closed the LensWork darkroom. In fact, we have dismantled
it completely, effectively shutting down the LensWork gelatin silver
Special Editions program. We have done so for a variety of reasons not
the least of which is the increasing difficulty in the availability of
materials. We used a great deal of Forte paper and it is gone. We used
Ilford paper and they are hanging on by a thread. Worse, our ability
to secure large scale digital negatives that are not flawed is almost
impossible as imagesetter machines fall farther and farther behind the
curve in technology and maintenance. We were heartsick to make this
decision, but after a year of debate and vacillation, we have finally
pulled the plug. For us, it is a sad "end of an era" experience.
Over the last couple of years we have been frequently asked if we will
offer LensWork Special Editions in ink. We might. We are not sure.
Right now I am working on about 10 years of backlogged personal
projects. For years I focussed my attention on developing and
perfecting the LensWork hybrid printing technology. (Which I could
have avoided if Burkholder had just written is book about 5 years
earlier!) For the last seven years since the introduction of the SE
program I've spent a great deal of my time making and managing the
production of the over 17,000 gelatin silver prints we've sold. It's
now time for a bit of a rest and regroup.
As a "lurker" ever since Tyler Boley turned me on to this group, I
hope you don't mind my butting in!
Brooks Jensen
Editor, LensWork Publishing
Written Sunday August 21, 2005 at 3:50PM