Re: [Leica] Who does Salgado's Printing?

[Daniel Bowdoin <danlb@mindspring.com>]

Ken Lassiter wrote

>I have stood in Salgado's Paris darkroom and watched him coach his
>assistant in making his prints.  He does not make them himself but
>directs the printing by checking every print until he is happy with the
>results.  In 1992, I made a video program about Salgado which was
>broadcast in April 1993 on the Kodak Satellite TV series, Techniques of
>the Masters.  There is a short shot in that video of Salgado working in
>the darkroom with his assistant and in the dialogue, he describes his
>working methods to me.
>
>Another famous master, Arnold Newman does the same thing.  I believe
>many photographers do not make their own prints but closely supervise
>the printing.  Jay Maisel does so even though he is working all
>digitally today and prints on an Epson printer.  His assistants sits at
>the computer with Jay looking over his shoulder and evaluating test
>prints.

Salgado's printer for the last four or five years has been Dominique
Granier. There was an interesting and rather highly detailed article in
Reponses Photo (#98, May 2000)--in the context of a 30-page feature on
Salgado, his work, and the, er, institution he is becoming--about Granier
and his work with Salgado and Amazonas. In addition to specifics about
enlargers, lenses, paper, chemistry, etc., there was a detailed before-
and-after illustrated discussion of three images, showing the straight
print, discussing some of the adjustments made, and then showing the
final print. Interesting stuff. I have the strong impression that Granier
is not so heavily supervised as you suggest that Salgado's 1992 printer was.

Regards

Daniel Bowdoin