Venerable members of the silver brigade. Marched photography from the hallways to the white walls; from the basement to the main gallery. Art words began to be understood, and refined by photographers during the 60s and 70s. Ralph Gibson was a promoter, a vagabond, a troubadour for photography. Mainly the book, that area he mastered, and mentored through his Lustrum Press.
A mix of techniques, craft skill along with image skills. The walkway and the walk. Path and walker.
“The reason I publish under Lustrum is the same as my attitude towards the frame,” Gibson says. “I want all the credit, all the blame, complete and total autonomy.”
Ralph Gibson’s early method was using Tri-X shot at 100 to 400, processed in Rodinal 1:25 for 11 minutes, agitation by rolling tank on its side 10 seconds every 90 seconds. He printed using Brovira 111, Nos. 4 and 5 in Dektol 1:1 for 2 to 3 minutes. No toning. Dry between blotters.
That was then. These days digital. Lustrum thrives as does Ralph Gibson (at 83, b.1939 – ).
“Digital Color— at Leica Gallery Los Angeles on January 17 (2019), the day after his 80th birthday—features images created entirely with digital cameras”
“Digital responded to the way my eye sees the world in a very emphatic, ineluctable way,” Gibson says. “Very few people get a chance to reinvent themselves when they’re 75.”
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