Shopper’s alert. Repeat: alert.

From the Canadian distributor:

As a result of the unprecedented rise in the price of silver over the past year, the key raw material in Photographic film and paper, Harman Technology – Ilford and Kentmere branded products – have announced a significant price increase effective Feb. 1, 2011. The increase applies to all Silver Halide based products including Ilford and Kentmere black and white papers, films and Scientific products. Chemical and accessory items are not affected by this increase.

I believe it was Stieglitz who wrote (in reference to the growing popularity of hand cameras) “A word to the wise is sufficient.”

 

2011/01/15
Categories: Tools & Materials . . Author: mrdplus . Comments: Leave a comment

W. o’ W.: Odean Pope

“Every time I pick that horn up there’s always something that I discover I can do differently if I really seek.

“If you were on planet Earth for, like, 2 billion years, I feel as though there’s always something new that you can find to do. There’s no end.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9lwR8gTktY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

2011/01/10
Categories: Words of Wisdom . . Author: mrdplus . Comments: Leave a comment

Subscribe:

Click on “Re: Moi” (above), then click again on the box at the bottom of that page. You’ll get word, whenever.

2011/01/08
Categories: Uncategorized . . Author: mrdplus . Comments: Leave a comment

Distant Early Warning: New (No-Name) Paper from Ilford/Harman

An insider informs me that Ilford is working on producing a “Fine Art” paper, and it’s currently being tested by a handful of printers, which doesn’t include you or me. If the feedback is good, it may be made available sometime this spring; if not, further refinements may be necessary. The paper has no name yet (let’s call it “Emanon,” after John Lewis’s 1946 composition recorded by Dizzy Gillespie’s big band). It’s a finely textured, matt heavyweight art paper, 300 grams per square meter, not unlike good watercolor paper.  It doesn’t look or feel like a typical silver gelatin paper; a slight curve and faint sheen are the only clues to the emulsion side. (You’ll pardon the lack of illustrations at this juncture.)

Exposure is a tad slower than Multigrade Warmtone (!), with a slightly warm emulsion on an off-white base. The surface texture accepts pencil (as did their Kentmere Art paper), and it dries reasonably flat. It responds well to sepia toning; however, there is little apparent response to direct selenium toner (a feature in common with Ilford Galerie graded paper). It sounds delightful for selected negatives, so start saving up now for your own first package.

2011/01/02
Categories: Information, Tools & Materials . . Author: mrdplus . Comments: Leave a comment

What Robert Frank Thinks

Ann Satterfield: What do you think talent is?

Robert Frank: What is talent? Luck! Talent is not enough. That’s what I think.

Satterfield: Is that all you have to say about it, that it’s luck? You said it’s important for artists to have. You mentioned some other things…

Frank: Talent is not enough in the sense that, if you really are an artist, you are obsessed completely. You are possessed by it. It’s not talent. It’s your life. I have met very few people who had that, very few.

Satterfield: So it’s a strong feeling of wanting to say something? Or, feeling very strongly about wanting to say something; or feeling very strongly about certain aspects of life?

Frank: It’s more in getting it out. Yes, in you is something that’s continuously coming up, coming out of your mouth, out of your ears. It comes out. It has to come out. Not because you just want to make a film. It’s a matter of being alive. I don’t think I’m that kind of person. As I said, I’ve met very few. It’s really a totally obsessive quality that can’t be stopped. So it’s different than talent. People with talent work in television.

2011/01/01
Categories: Words of Wisdom . . Author: mrdplus . Comments: Leave a comment

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