who uses
what is used
where it is used
separating, making, discovering intent :: content distinction
how much of you are you prepared to share, to discover
when you hide, what do you seek
Photography: Introductory Readings [1970]
from my teaching notes for Experimental Studios during the 70’s [73-82]
–PICTORIALISM VS. EARLY MODERNISM: Henry Peach Robinson, O.G. Rejlander, P.H. Emerson, Stieglitz, and Steichen. [Art Photography: Another Aspect,” by Naomi Rosenblum]
–PURISM. PAUL STRAND, PRECISIONISM AND ED WESTON AND F/64 GROUP. [“Art Photography: Another Aspect,” by Naomi Rosenblum, in xerox packet, “Alfred Stieglitz and Pictorial Photography,” by Jonathan Green and “Conspicuous by his absence” by A.D. Coleman.]
–THREE TYPES OF MODERNISMS. Franz Roh & Moholy-Nagy, Rodchenko, Heartfield, German photography in 1920s. [“Art, Photography, and Modernism,” by Naomi Rosenblum.]
–SUBJECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY I. Photography in Post-WWII Europe and its ramifications for American photography. The theories of Dr. Otto Steinert and his categories of photo- graphic praxis. Early precursors: Herbert Bayer, Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray. The ideology of subjective photography: formalists vs. socially aware. The New Brutalism in England: Nigel Henderson [“On the Creative Possibilities of Photography” by Otto Steinert and “A Separate Reality: Subjective Photography” by James Hugunin.]
–SUBJECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY II. The importance of the publication Aperture and Minor White’s theories of “reading” photographs. Discussion of the work of Fred Sommer, Aaron Siskind, Henry Holmes-Smith, Harry Callahan. The development of the notion of the “equivalent.” [“Equivalence: The Perennial Trend” by Minor White, and two short essays by Aaron Siskind and in Xerox of American Photography by Jonathan Green, chapter three and four.]
–Robert Frank’s The Americans. comparison of three different readings of Frank’s book: Jonathan Green’s, John Brumfield’s and Jno Cook’s critique of Brumfield. [American Photography by Jonathan Green, chapter five and “Robert Frank and Photography,” by Jno Cook and “Some Reflections on Time and Change in the Work of Robert Frank,” by Shelly Rice.]
–THE NEW DOCUMENT. The theories of John Szarkowski: The Photographer’s Eye, Mirrors & Windows, and Peter Galassi’s Before Photography. Szarkowski’s synthesis of Steichen’s documentarianism and Minor White’s expressionism. [American Photography by Jonathan Green, chapter six, seven and excerpt from “The Rhetoric of the Pose” by Henry Sayre, and “Figments from the Real World: Garry Winogrand,” by Frank Joseph.]
Old Matrix Film
gelatin hardens as it ages. And it does so in an uncharacterized manner. As the gelatin of a matrix film ages, it undergoes changes which I don’t know have ever been studied. No reason to do so since no film maker ever thought people would store soft gelatin film for decades.
Most of those still making Dye Transfers are doing so with old matrixfilm. They are hoping that cold storage is extending their working years, but how long is it useable? The following table presents some results of testing that I performed last year using matrixfilm I have gotten from many sources. I do not know the real storage condition of the materials, but everyone claimed their matrixfilm had been stored correctly since they bought it.
What is good enough?
Can it produce a mat that can hold Kodak dyes, and transfer completely, providing a full range of tones — simple, right.
As the matrix film ages, it hardens on its own. It does this based on size of the sheet, temperature of storage, and something else — I don’t know what, but I suspect that it is the sensitizer used during the coating of the emulsion. The more senisitive to broader spectrum, the quicker the matrix suffers from “hardening of the storage” — ortho last longer than panchromatic — smaller sheets last longer than bigger. Zoing.
Once you process the matrix it can be stored, seemingly indefinitely– just don’t “poison” the mat and it will last as long as any film (my guestimate). If the gelatin hardens it can readily be softened enough to pull prints. This has been confirmed by pulling mats that were first exposed circa 1974.
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