Notions: 12.24.22

Posted on Posted in labnotes, minimum daily requirement, the Lab

Books and questions. Finding and keeping. Some who, how; some now, then.

Continuing from the other day about Ferricyanide bleaching. In searching for one thing, I found this thing: https://apenasimagens.com/en/photo-retouching-local-reduction/

The lesson: ask bigger google searches until you find bigger sites. I found the apenas site looking at Youtube. Rather than spending time on the devoted but declining photrio/largeformat 20th century enthusiasts of all things, check this century; then, read a book. Search using google books, and the internet archive. Much will become clear. Last century is well preserved.

To make the bleach first part you can use: only Part A is needed.

Working on: LED again. 9th street. the StarBergs. Steichen’s only picture.

A book to consider:

Book Building: Dayanita Singh

 Dayanita Singh is a book artist who stretches the imagination of what a book can be, transcending the spaces between publishing and art. Book Building traces the journeys of Singh’s books, from the first, Zakir Hussain (1986), to her latest, Zakir Hussain Maquette (2019), showing the spectrum of her book-building process, from idea to material object and how she inventively circulates them in the art world and beyond.

How Groups Grow

Posted on Posted in A Symbol Life, art biz, Criticism, dye transfer2 Comments

learning means doing.

Two groups; both about dye transfer, imbibition printing — that stuff value formed from mythic difficulty, and quite a bit of obscurity.

One group supports each other.

The other group gossips.

  • the new group. smaller. more engaged
  • the old group. hoping for recovery

The older group is the one inherited from the Jim Browning Yahoo group. At one time it held possible growth. There were fans, fanatics and some accomplished practitioners. It was steeped in conservative aesthetics. that of an industrial age. steeped in Kodakery. Over time, it ossified; became pedantic or pedestrian. And died. No hope. It was revived, but not revitalized by an earnest but ineffective dabbler. He fell into the same trap as all fall. Aiming to get it all. He hasn’t gotten anything. Okay, he has Ctein’s newsletter as a regular post. This consists of “what I’m selling this month” to eat.

The other group is much smaller but has criteria for membership. You must be printing. You must not be boring. You are probably younger and practicing wider imagery. If anything, this was always the way imbibition printing was grown in the last century. Kodak never understood that. Frank and crew were too slow to learn that the Klutes had the clue.