[Leica] Ansel

[s.dimitrov at charter.net (Slobodan Dimitrov)]

You have to remember that we were inundated with AA prints here in the 
Southland.
My bias tends to go for higher contrast and an easily defined zone of 
sharpness, when it comes to the landscape and still life. Prints by AA 
come out of another era, where a 'full-bodied tone', as they liked to 
say, was acceptable because of the limitation of the optics, and the 
sensitized materials. It's something we don't have to live with 
anymore. It's now a choice, with a softar. And only if stylistically 
necessary.
I've seen samples of prints from the old LIFE lab, along side what the 
neg. really looked like. It took some skill to squeeze out any kind of 
print from them. About 30 years ago, I was able to talk  to a few old 
timers that were acquainted with the lab. The anecdotal stories were in 
keeping with was said of the lab in books and articles. I once sat down 
for an evening of conversation at the home of one of the photo editors 
from LIFE in Santa Monica. Sometimes, it's just plainly obvious how 
personalities, the period, with the equipment, can come together in a 
way that can never be replicated again. It sure seemed like that with 
the LIFE staff.
S. Dimitrov


On Mar 7, 2005, at 5:29 PM, Feli wrote:

> Thanks. Any comments on the Adam's prints? What made the work of the 
> LIFE guys the best in you opinion?
> What in you opinion makes print 'great'?
>
>
> feli
>
>
>
> On Mar 7, 2005, at 5:27 PM, Slobodan Dimitrov wrote:
>
>> Too dark and out of focus, that pj hyper-focal thing they like so 
>> much. The one's I've seen needed spotting, or maybe the spotting 
>> toner just hasn't aged that well. What I've seen has been  
>> Schweitzer, the country doctor, the nurse, the asylum, and Minamata. 
>> The printing always looked like an after thought, as though he'd get 
>> back to them later to do it right.
>> S. Dimitrov
>>
>
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Slobodan Dimitrov
Photography