Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones"
<cj@...> wrote:
...
> at an AA exhibit where everything was 16x20 or larger.  I became aware
> of a sense of unease while viewing them and it finally hit me that I
> enjoyed his pics more in a good book on my lap.

I often thought much of his work that I saw was over enlarged. But
some of his better large negs at around 16x20 were really stunning.
Back in the Friends of Photography workshop days they used to bring us
through his home. There was a Mt. Williamson and a Tetons/Snake Rvr
there at about 16x20 that far surpassed anything I saw in a museum or
gallery, and his true level of accomplishment was suddenly very
obvious, and I'm not even a fan.

...
> >Many are printing big simply because they can...
> 
> Or are pressured into it by gallery owners and/or buyers.

But then look at Michael Kenna. Despite a recent thread here he has to
be one of the most successful contemporary fine art photographers
right now. Even in this town, his shows sell really well. To my
knowledge he's always just made those small prints, right? He's
apparently always done what he wanted, I'll bet he's been pressured
for larger.

On the other hand, a photographer I know that prints and exhibits all
silver around 11x14 had me make a 40x50 recently for a commercial
installation, and called just today because there were so many
inquiries for more sales. Her conclusion was that size was the attraction.

So who knows? I think the content should drive the print size
decision, and beyond that, for me, the impression the image structure
on paper makes. Even with that, there are no hard and fast rules. We
might think grain would be a limiting factor, but one look at a big
Ralph Gibson with that prominent sharp crystaline grain structure and
that theory has to be reviewed as well. A completely different, but
successful, kind of presence.

The point you make, about how you want people to experience the object
(the print) is really important too, intimate or overwhelming? Etc..

But then you've spent considerable time on image structure on paper as
well, as an artistic issue.
Tyler