[Leica] Black & White film portraiture making a comeback? WAS: <sigh> Getting into printing.. need advice?

[abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge)]

I'm sorry you chose to share your thoughts off-line Philip since they
are lost to the community at large now. Perhaps you would consider
posting them here so they go into the archives for others who wish to
learn from your own experience.

And, I'm hoping, the original poster will write back and talk to us
about his experiences setting up his darkroom. I'm certain many of us
will be interested.

I greatly appreciate the dark room as a fundamental to photography. I
have to think that real silver-gel prints made from real film in a
real darkroom will make a real resurgence in the upscale portraiture
market -- if they haven't already. Mark R. might be able to give us a
glimpse of the NYC market.

Mark is black and white portraiture, on film, printed on
silver-gelatin fiber paper making it there?

How about others in cities where the wealth is?

To me the hands-on nature of the medium is so intense it would have to
make an impact. Perhaps as the economies pick up and the awareness
seeps into the upper-middle class.

Anyway, sorry to change the subject

On Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 11:44 AM, Philip Forrest
<photo.forrest@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Ha ha ha ha ha!
> It's little nuggets like this and the thread thereafter that make me
> want to fall off this LUG wagon and just make photos. There's probably
> a lot of people who responded off list (as did I) giving advice on
> darkroom work.
> The funny thing about the LUG is that there is very little gray here.
> Black or white. I'm right you're wrong. The whole idea of a forum is
> just that, it's a forum where ideas can be shared and art can be
> cultivated. Much of what travels around here though is some air of
> superiority/seniority/highfalutin crap. There's a lot of talented
> photographers here on the LUG. I respect them and their work. There's a
> lot of tree bark and peeling paint too. Lots of "my Cooke-Amotal will
> beat my 1st gen Summicron." etc...
> There is a certain little bit of satisfaction of collecting anything,
> but every camera and lens I personally have owned, fixed or built, I
> have used to make images. Some I still have, some I cut up with an
> angle grinder and dremel tool, some I sold. Too often this is not a
> Leica Users' Group, it's a Snobbish Collectors' Group. I'm not a
> collector, I'm a user. I don't have any equipment in a vault still in
> a box. I don't collect boxes, I throw them away, helping you box
> collectors by boosting the value of whatever cellulose you've
> squirreled away for some foolish reason. All my lenses are used.
> Heavily. I've never written a book on my lenses or anybody elses'. I
> share some of the imagery I make with the group and get a little
> feedback to grow from.
> I'm so sick of some of these threads such as this, that I could
> projectile vomit.
> I don't care what music you're listening to while drinking whatever it
> is you're drinking sitting under your OC light.
> I listen to Nirvana, Pearl Jam and a few other "grunge" groups when I'm
> printing, but I don't talk about it here. Sometimes a little bit of
> Jazz, sometimes NPR. I drink water from beer glasses I collected while
> in the Navy but don't talk about it here.
> Why?
> Because nobody cares. Or more importantly, nobody SHOULD care.
> It's about making art. That's narcissistic enough; we don't need to
> hear what cigar goes best with the nose of Dektol. Making photos. If
> that's done with a pinhole, great; if that's done with a Leica, great;
> if that's done with the Hubble Space Telescope, great.
> Besides the few people in dirty, muddy shoes (like Tina,
> showing us beauty in the harshest adversity) the
> rest of us who point fingers should be ashamed. I'm pointing
> everywhere, so I'll start with myself. I'm just so sick of the stigma
> that I feel because I choose to shoot a Leica, the very pinnacle of
> snobbish image making devices. That stigma comes from here.
> Go make some photos, people.
> Phil Forrest
>
>
>
> A fellow asks us to share our thoughts on how to
> set up a chemical darkroom.  So far, most of the
> responses have been from digital people who are
> stating how much they hate darkroom work.  That
> is so much sour grapes and is not responsive to the question asked.
>
> First, can you digital folks stand aside or, if
> you insist, set up your OWN thread of "Why I Hate
> Analog Work" or the like.  Otherwise, keep your
> bitter, vicious, and nasty thoughts to
> yourself.  It is a BIG universe and one easily
> capable of including those of us who LIKE analog
> work, those of us who are incapable of adapting
> to digital, and those who like digital
> work.  Heck, the universe is big enough to
> include the 95% of folks who use and like PC's
> and the 5% who like and use Mac's.  As they say,
> your mileage may vary, but, in the end, it IS a
> large and inclusive universe.  I suspect that
> most LUG subscribers do not own or wear or have
> ever seen a Tilley Hat, but we do spend a LOT of
> time talking about these as if they were the
> end-all and be-all of existence, not to mention
> those specialty shoes Tina wears.  (Me?  I do
> analog, cannot figure out digital, use a PC,
> walked around yesterday in Hannah without a hat
> on at all, and spend ten months of the year barefoot -- retirement is 
> great.)
>
> Second, let us not pour urine on an enquiring
> mind who wants to get into a chemical
> darkroom.  Encouragement is in order, not tales
> of how much some of you HATED the experience.  I
> would never discourage someone from going
> digital:  if they are happy to accept the
> constraints, that is their choice and more power
> to them.  Others are happy to accept the
> constraints of analog and more power to them, as well.
>
> Third, I fill my time in the dark room listening
> to classical music or old radio shows.  I
> happened to be in the dark room when they
> announced that Stephane Grappelli had died.-- I
> am not wild about Jazz Violin but I did get a
> grand two-hour remembrance of his work on my
> local NPR station while whomping up several dozen
> prints and a couple of rolls of film to
> boot.  Duffy's Tavern is a great listen as is the
> radio Dragnet or Tales of the Texas
> Rangers.   Mozart, Hayden, Bach, Handel ...
> anything but the gagging nastiness of piano
> sonatas.  Those put me to sleep when they do not make me physically 
> nauseous.
>
> Marc
>
>
> msmall@aya.yale.edu
> Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!
>
>
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