[Leica] Yes, Set Up A Darkroom

[timatherton at theedge.ca (Tim Atherton)]

> Something I'm sure Salgado and Natcheway will be most interested to
> hear, not to mention HCB were he still with us.
>

thankfully, a pretty good percentage of the best photographers, both
contemporaries and past masters, have always realised they are just that -
good photographers, but not particularly good darkroom craftsmen (or even
good darkroom technicians) and have sought out the best printers to print
their work. This is especially (but not only) the case with colour workers.

Sadly the opposite is true - there are many very good darkroom technicians
who think they are also good photographers....

In part, the move to digital - epically "hybrid" digital using scanned film,
has drawn a lot of colour photographers into working more with their raw
images. They are discovering that the incredible level of control they can
now exercise over their work, compared to what even the best of colour
printers were ever able to do.

Working from a hi-res scan of say an 8x10 transparency they can draw out a
much wider range of highlight and shadow detail than was ever possible
before. They can change contrast, colour balance, dodge and burn and much
more, remove colour casts or whatever, as globally or locally on a print as
they want - it's easy to retain all the detail in a sky that would otherwise
become blown out, or adjust the contrast on individual flower heads if you
want - the range of control is almost infinite by comparison with what used
to be able to be done, as is the accuracy of their application. And while
there are some sets of skills that are different from those of a darkroom
printer, the learning curve is possibly even steeper - certainly it takes as
much skill to become a "master" digital-darkroom worker as it does to be a
wet darkroom worker - in addition, the range of tools available (especially
for colour) is probably much much greater.

Many of the best known of today's colour photographers are having their old
negatives and transparencies scanned, worked on and reprinted and/or
republished in new editions which make use of the advances. A good few of
the best colour printers (even including some of the dye-transfer and
ilfochrome diehards....) have realised the immense benefits of this kind of
digital work.

Even if it's not the type of work that appeals to you if you ever get a
chance to see some of Chris Jordan's prints "in the flesh" don't miss the
chance - from a technical/darkroom point of view, I think you will be
stunned  www.chrisjordan.com . Just one example

tim