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Posted by: Owen Phairis (66.215.36.195) on June 29, 2003 at 12:14:27
Location: Southern Cakifornia
In Reply to: The past... posted by Michael McGowan on June 29, 2003 at 02:14:53:
: Owen, I know you're trying to copy the type of work done a long time ago. But I've seen many prints from that era. They have a vibrancy and tonal range you might find surprising. Your photos look like the third-generation material we see these days, instead of the strong, full-range photos that originally wowed people.
: We don't have many sources for really good reproductions of photos from that era these days. The shows I saw that knocked me out were in the 1960s and 1970s. By now, many of those images are simply crumbling into dust, because the materials from which they were made are dying.
: But the memory of strong, fluid and tonally wonderful images lives on with me. The depth of the blacks, the long, smooth transition of tones from blackest black to whitest white, the amazing detail, even in the intentionally soft pictures. All those elements made those photos very alive.
: Those pictures weren't like Ansel Adams' pristine shots. But they did have a texture and a depth that was amazing.
: The more you can incorporate that into yours, the more you'll be able to say with your own photography.
: (By the way, this is a notion that my first photography professor instilled in us: Don't try to emulate reproductions of photos. You'll always come up with a second-class image.)
: Oh, and not all color is "drug store color."
Well sir...........
I am not sure how to respond to you........
To me, at least, it is obvious you have no idea at all of what you are talking about.
As a collector of images, I have many from the 30s and 40s that are in excellent shape, and a few from the 1800s that are also in great shape. So much for that.....
As for tonal range, hummm.... perhaphs you should adjust your contrast control. People that see my original prints never fail to comment, first on their originality, then on their artistic merrit and then on their exceptional tonal range.......
You are right that it is not all drug store color, the rest is adobe color.......... and I'm ok with that, I just prefer B&W!
Copying the masters is different than using them for inspiration, I would suggest you might visit some museums in your spare time - I know Ohio has several.
As for my images being second rate........ well, the judges of the contests and exhibitions that I have entered and won don't seem to agree with you. I would gladly put my images against your soft porn any day.
I have a definite style that I developed over the past 40 years by intensive trial and error, and by studying the work of the masters. My prints, my work, are my own. The fact that it does not seem to apeal to your taste does not really concern me, after all, we all have our followings.
Owen Phairis
Big Bear Lake, CA
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