Fragmented Photographs

In 1972 Carl Toth demolished the grid with ''Judy, Buffalo'', a photograph with linked components but no rectangular grid. David Hockney added to this with photographs like
''Mother I, Yorkshire Moors, August 1985 #1''

Rich McKown and Jackie Kerns Heigle also added significant contributions in this area. With the use of Photoshop becoming mainstream there is a lot of potential to explore this type of imaging.

all rights reserved © 2006 Paul Light

A Truly Affordable Camera

In the 1970s toy cameras assumed a new prominence among art photographers. Nancy Rexroth took a Diana camera, a camera intended for children, and created photographs that were exhibited and continue to be exhibited in major photography galleries. These cameras produce strange, distorted, poorly focused, exciting photographs. Dianas have been replaced by Holgas and are available from Amazon for $28. Using a toy camera may not be a viable career path to establish oneself as a fulltime photographer but they sure are fun. Details on the ever expanding Holga community can be seen in a Wikipedia article on this subject. Recently (2013) Nancy Rexroth has been making some very nice photographs using an iPhone 5 and the app Tintype.

all rights reserved © 2006 Paul Light

A Very Compact Digital Darkroom

MIS and Paul Roark have collaborated on an interesting digital alternative to setting up a home black and white darkroom. Although this may not have been their intent, setting up a home darkroom is an impossibility for many people who have explored darkrooms in college settings. By buying a very basic Epson printer, an MIS basic black and white ink set and a basic digital camera black and white prints can be created in even a studio apartment at an affordable price. This might even be an alternative to traditional traveling darkrooms.

all rights reserved ©2006 Paul Light

Black and White Lives

Despite the constant rumors of the death of black and white photography, great black and white photography persists. Recent examples being the MoMA 2005 show of the work of Lee Friedlander as well as Bonni Benrubi’s representation of Abe Morrell and Matthew Pillsbury are extraordinary examples of the black and white darkroom photography of the future.

Although most photographers continue to work primarily in color, myself included, it is fascinating to watch black and white transition into digital photography. First with Cone’s Piezography and MIS Ultratones and now as Epson Ultrachrome K3 finally provides inks that make high quality black and white prints without having to choose a third party ink. I watch my students choose to experiment with the black and white option available on so many basic digital cameras and the excitement they experience creating their first black and white photographs and it makes me feel certain that black and white will survive with or without film and darkroom papers.

all rights reserved © 2006 Paul Light