[Leica] Salgado's technique

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

> Does anyone know precisely which lenses, film, chemicals Salgado (and for
> that matter, H.C.-B) uses?  I know it's the geek in me, but I'm fascinated
> by the particulars of the craft.  And I'm surprised that this information is
> rarely (if ever) furnished in the books.


That information isn't furnished because, uh, that information is seldom the
point. <s>

But seeing as you're interested, Salgado's recent book of portraits of
children is a great example of his technique. As I understand it, He uses
Leica lenses, usually two moderate wides and a short tele, in various
combinations of M and R (most recently, apparently, all M), Kodak T-Max 400
film (TMY), and he doesn't do his own printing. I don't know who does.

I'm not sure it would help to know. Interestingly, darkroom craftspeople who
do the printing for famous photographers also seldom like to talk about
technique. I guess it's because it's the _craftsmanship_ that makes the
prints great, not the materials. For years, we've seen people copy Ansel
Adams's chosen materials for "Zone System" work. Guess what? Their prints
still don't look like his. Copying anyone's materials list, unfortunately,
is not quite enough to make your prints look like theirs.

- --Mike