Digital BW, The Print

Well put.  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall any of
the old guys doing anything but signing - maybe deciding whether to sign on
the front or the back.  AA printed Moonrise, then decided to print out the
clouds, then decided to intensify the bottom in chromium, and I think he
just kept printing and signing.  Same with EW, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, so
far as I know.  For a while, Cole Weston's son dry-mounted the neg on the
back of the print, so there wasn't much doubt about anything.  Now that I'm
looking up at the wall, I do see some Martha Casanave prints that are signed
with the year in which photographed - that's not a bad idea.  I just wish I
had a legible signature or that it added some value to the print.

Regards,
Ken Carney
www.kencarney.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Clayton
> Jones
> Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 9:01 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Signing prints question
> 
> Hello Richard,
> 
> >I'm wondering how I should sign a print that is, say, the first print
> of the second open edition .... I'm forever looking at prints and
> thinking I could do better and should start another edition.
> >
> >How about 2nd ed 1/open?
> 
> If you want to confuse people then it's a great idea <g>.  The entire
> concept of printings and editions seems overworked to me (Brooks
> Jensen's method is the epitome of a bad idea taken to it's logical
> conclusion - I think it's the only idea I've read of his that I don't
> like - otherwise I'm a fan and I subscribe to his magazine).   Seems
> to me there is only one reason to number a print, and that is to
> uniquely identify it.  There is no reason or obligation to do anything
> beyond that (the concept of a limited edition is an additional
> complication which you may or may not want to use, for whatever
> reason.  But if you call it limited then it should be limited).
> 
> If you are going to have multiple editions of the same image,
> distinguished by some slight difference, then you deserve whatever
> trouble comes your way as a result.  You'll be explaining and
> justifying for the rest of your life, no matter what numbering system
> you use.