Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>The legend has it that W Eugene was/is the only photographer who was allowed >to provide finished prints to Life. In fact, contractually, that was the >only way he would play. Also, he would work to create the print that he >wanted using every and I mean every darkroom trick available then make a >large format copy negative to produce duplicates. >Don Interestingly enough, in the introduction to the little Phaidon 55 book of Smith's work, the writer claims that at one point Smith had prints made by assistants, and that he sat outside the darkroom reading while they made the prints, and brought them out for his approval. In "the" biography of WES, "Of Shadow and Substance: The Life and Work of an American Photographer," author Jim Hughes describes scenes in which the entire Smith entourage (family, friends/assistants) would participate in printing sessions, each one performing a particular task, including bleaching, all under his general supervision. Smith is also frequently quoted as having said that he absolutely hated printing. Guy