[Leica] Re:silver prints

[dkhong at pacific.net.sg (DKhong)]

>Feli wrote:
>
>I was up at the Getty Museum this weekend visiting one of their photo
>exhibits. One thing that always strikes me is the quality of the
>vintage b/w silver prints. They are incredible lush and rich. Their
>tonal scale is to die for with a creamy smooth tonal scale all the
>way from the shadows to the highlights. I've never seen a modern
>print that looks remotely as good. So, what is it? Certainly the
>uncoated lenses (taking and enlarging) may have something to do
>with "the glow", but my guess is it's the paper. True? False? Maybe?
>Does anyone still make anything even remotely like that today?
>

Feli

Silver based print is silver based print just like "there is nothing like 
glass" or "nothing like leather."
I believe that both the paper and the embedded silver halide work hand in 
hand produce those fine prints with the tonality and depth of blackness (or 
greyness) that we admire so much. Digitally generated images jet spray dyes 
on paper and is basically surface job. I send my .jpg images to my 
photofinisher who prints them on colour photopaper. This is better than the 
spray jobs done at home but still lack the 3-D effect and look that I 
easily achieve from film based images.  Tweaking images with 
photoshop  consumes time. I believe that some people are already addicted 
to digital manipulation.

What you are seeing are hand crafted photos painstakingly made piece by 
piece. No two are exactly the same although the same batch done the same 
way may be very close. Current mindset is one of immediacy and efficiency 
and digital imaging delivers the goods in quick time. Efficiency and 
expediency does not always translate to quality.

Dan K