Meet in COS classroom @ 3pm sharp.
3:15pm – Carpool to Swanson Images, downtown Weed, for demo of five-foot printer
4pm – descend upon downtown Weed for photography.
Bring camera (pinhole, film, digital), film, tripod!
Weed Field Trip Schedule for Wednesday, March 10
A Talk with John Rickard of Tangle Gallery and Press
From the Jefferson Agrarian, a blog I run about art happenings in the State of Jefferson:
photograph © James Gilmore 2008
Ed. note: This is the first among (hopefully) many upcoming interviews with artists that continue to push the envelope in this rural outpost of the State of Jefferson.
Jefferson artist and entrepreneur John Rickard ran the first gallery in our area dedicated to photographic practice when he opened the Noda-Rickard Rostel Gallery with a partner in Dunsmuir in 2007. After a spectacular run of giving us a taste of art shows, receptions and workshops in a *real* art gallery setting, the Rostel Gallery closed at the end of 2008. Not to be deterred, Rickard has returned with Tangle Press & Gallery, which was launched on January 1, 2010.
The Jefferson Agrarian recently interviewed Rickard about his new venture:
JA: The stated mission of Tangle Press & Gallery is to inspire, educate and share life through the medium of photography. How do you see such a broad and ambitious mission being put into practice in the remote reaches of the State of Jefferson?
JR: The State of Jefferson is not only a refuge of free independent thinkers it also an area that cultivates the artistic mind. Imagery is a universal form of communication, it is often collected, critiqued and theorized by metropolitan intellectuals but it is intelligible by all. Aspiring to music, images are universal. There are concessions living in the mountains of the State of Jefferson but we do not lack culture. Artists abound here like wildlife, inspired by beauty and life’s trials and tribulations. Photography has its own articulation, one with no syllables, grammar or syntax, only direct emotion. Simply put, Tangle Press is initiating a visual conversation that can be discussed in any corner of the world.
JA: There appear to be four main areas of concentration for Tangle gallery, press, journal and workshops. Can you talk about your vision for each one?
JR: Synonymous with our name, all these avenues are intertwined. The workshops educate, the gallery inspires and the journal/press displays the resulting visual dialog. On a business level each is necessary to fund the other. I am devising Tangle to be approachable by all since our region is diverse on many levels.
JA: We also noticed something called ‘Red Room’ – what is your vision for a bricks-and-mortar gallery/workspace, and where would it ideally be located?
JR: Everywhere an epicenter of creativity is needed, throughout art history there have been places where artists orbit and exchange ideas. I’m not trying to start a new movement, just provide a location to work, learn, share, and grow. I am fortunate to have a home darkroom and can print on a whim, but many artists don’t have that luxury. A muse can leave an artist as quickly as it formalizes. Without the ability to conjure the tangible from the inspiration, art is just a thought. Red room will provide many local artists a place to create and share. Financially I can’t yet provide this place but it is one of my biggest goals. I think Mt Shasta is the right town for a central Jeffersonian location, and its visitors.
JA: Who have been your role models for a similar successful venture?
JR:My teachers have been my role models, those with the innate sense of sharing, publishers who take pride in the book and artists who care not about fame and fortune but simply about their craft and its perception in society. These people are sometimes in art history books and sometimes walking by our side.
JA: Who are your top five Art Heroes?
JR: There are many artists that create extremely influential art. They can redefine a medium and change humanity with their creations. Anselm Kiefer is our current living artist with such acclaim, but he was inspired and educated by Joseph Beuys, an artist and a teacher. Those who create great works themselves but have also helped their fellow artists are my heroes. This idea is celebrated everyday by those like Linda Connor of Photo Alliance, Emilio Bañuelos and Elena Carrasco of Black Boots Ink and even by you with this blog and your teaching at the College of the Siskiyous. Those whose work goes beyond narcissism, and whose existence is responsible for spores of new art and artists, are who inspire me. Alfred Stieglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Harry Callahan, Minor White and my personal favorite Brian Taylor are such artists.
One Day Workshop with Marc Riboud in Bay Area on March 14
©Marc Riboud. "Pékin, 1965."
Living Legend Marc Riboud, with Ken Light
March 14th, 2010 — 10:30am to 4:30pm
Description: Fotovision is very pleased to announce a special 1-day workshop and group portfolio review with French Photojournalist Marc Riboud. A close colleague and friend of Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Capa and longtime member of Magnum. Each participant will receive feedback from Mr. Riboud. Riboud’s life in photography will be explored and he will share his life’s experiences. Everyone will benefit from the group process, and conversations about photography.
Each participant will be asked to bring a portfolio of work consisting of anywhere from 20-40 photographs. The photographs can be from one body of work, or different projects. the instructors will discuss each person’s portfolio and give advice on technique and approach. Prints or printouts should be between 8×10 and 11×14 inches. You can get really cheap work prints at Costco or some such place. Work prints or equivalent are OK—Marc and Ken are concerned with the image, not print quality. No slides please. A digital portfolio would be permitted (on external hard drive or CD/DVD) although prints are preferred.
This is an exceedingly rare visit by Mr. Riboud to California to teach and lecture and therefore, an unparalleled opportunity to learn from a true master. This workshop has been planned in conjunction with the opening of Mr. Riboud’s exhibition at the Graduate School of Journalism Gallery on Friday, March 12th. Reception from 6-7 and 7-8:30 for slides and lecture.
Location: Workshop: Fotovision Office at 5515 Doyle Street, #11, Emeryville, CA 94608
NOTE: This is a NEW location for Fotovision as of Feb 15, 2010!!
Exhibition Opening Reception and Lecture: 105 North Gate Hall, Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, Hearst & Euclid, Berkeley, CA 94704.
J School driving directions and public transportation.
Instructors: Marc Riboud was born in 1923 in Lyon, France. After World War II, during which he was active in the French Resistance, he studied engineering at the Ecole Centrale in Lyon. He worked as an industrial engineer in Lyon before teaching himself photography. In 1953, he moved to Paris where he joined the Magnum Photo agency and travelled extensively, working with Magnum founders Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. His ability to capture fleeting moments in life through powerful compositions was already apparent, and this skill was to serve him well for decades to come. Mr Riboud served as vice-president of the Magnum Paris office from 1958 to 1975, as President for Paris and New York from 1975 to 1976 and as Chairman of the Board from 1976 to 1977. An icon of photojournalism, he has twice won the Overseas Press Club Award (1967 and 1971), and has exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the International Center of Photography and Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Ken Light s a social documentary photographer whose work has appeared in books, magazines and exhibitions. He has received two National Endowment for the Arts Photographers Fellowships, the Dorothea Lange Fellowship and a fellowship from the Erna and Victor Hasselblad Foundation and numerous other awards. He is adjunct professor and Director of the Center for Photography at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California Berkeley and was a founder of the International Fund for Documentary Photography and Fotovision.
Class size: 12 participants.
Cost: $185.00
Click here to go to Workshop site.
Tangle Announces Medium Format Workshop in Mt. Shasta
From John Rickard, Tangle Gallery and Press:
Learn the dynamics of medium format film photography in Mt Shasta, California.
Students will participate in discussion on the advantages, disadvantages, idiosyncrasies and options in the medium format world. The workshop will also include hands-on introduction to a variety of medium format cameras, fieldwork, lab work, lecture, slide shows and an exchange of ideas.
You will complete the workshop with developed film, contact sheet(s), a greater understanding of medium format photography and a few new friends. Each student will have the opportunity to shoot a variety of cameras at a variety of sites. You will be exposed to a varied range of subject matter from the remarkable beauty of the Shasta region to the street scenes of our diverse and historic towns. The State of Jefferson is a great place to visit and photograph.
Class is limited to ten students and the cost is $250 per person. For more information and to enroll email info@tanglepress.com.
Developing 4×5 Sheet Film Using a Combi Plan T 4×5 Processing Tank at COS
To develop 4×5 B&W sheet film at COS, we use the HP Combi 4 x 5″ Sheet Film Developing Tank.
The HP Combi 4 x 5″ Sheet Film Processing Tank is the only daylight processing, inversion agitation system available for both film and glass plates. It is manufactured from the highest quality plastic which, even after prolonged use, is highly resistant to corrosion from all known photographic chemicals, especially the current color developers.
Features:
- • Modular design, each part is available for replacement. Each part bears its catalog number for easy identification.
- • The plastic is an efficient insulator which helps to maintain a consistent temperature during processing.
- • Adjustable for sizes from 6 x 9 cm to 4 x 5″, daylight processing and daylight chemical changes.
- • Connector for forced film washing from either the bottom up or the top down.
- • Holds 6 sheets of film (12 black & white if loaded back to back).
- • Inert to all photographic chemicals, simple, economical, proven.
Well, sort of practical. You’ll need patience to use this device, but patience is required for all facets of large-format photography!
Artist Becomes First to Take Large Format Photos While In Freefall
Seattle artist Aaron Gustafson shot a series of large-format landscape photographs while skydiving using a custom-designed 4×5 helmet-camera.
Seattle, Washington, 8 February 2010 – Seattle-based artist Aaron Gustafson recently completed a series of large-format landscape photographs that he shot while freefalling through the skies of New York and Washington State. He became the first person to take large-format photographs while skydiving.
“I wanted to upend the norms by making a [large-format] camera to be used in a wildly different way,” Gustafson said. “This is what you’d get if you threw Ansel Adams out of a plane.”
Gustafson designed a helmet-mounted 4×5-inch film camera, and during the period of several months he made one photograph per jump while skydiving at speeds greater than 130 miles per hour.
“There is a long history between photography and adventure,” artist-photographer Arthur Ou said of the project. “Gustafson’s work … continues on this lineage, though not without a sense of wit and sincere irony.”
Artist Miranda Lichtenstein added, “Gustafson contemplates the sublime by jumping into it—literally … Picture [Dutch conceptual artist] Bas Jan Ader working for the [US] Geological Survey.”
Gustafson specially designed the camera that he used for the series. He made a prototype and then worked with a machinist and a plastics specialist to realize the final design. The camera is a cube-shaped acrylic and aluminum box that contains a wide-angle lens and houses a single sheet of 4×5-inch film at a time.
After learning to solo skydive, Gustafson made approximately 25 photo-dedicated jumps in New York and Washington State. The photographs show expansive aerial views of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York, and the Cascade Range and Puget Sound in Washington State. Subtle blur in the images alludes to how they were made.
“Photography is in a strange place now where everyone is taking camera-phone snapshots and posting them online,” Gustafson said. “But photography can still be grand and larger-than-life. This project came out of a desire for that. It’s a hybrid of new and old, calm and chaos.”
Aaron Gustafson is a 2009 MFA graduate of Parsons The New School for Design, New York. The freefall 4×5 project was a part of his final thesis, which was shown at Arnold & Sheila Aronson Galleries, New York, in 2009. Gustafson was born in Washington State and is currently based in Seattle. Much of his work deals with man in relation to nature and challenging conventions of photography.
Web site: http://www.aarongustafson.net/
Video document: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEmpSRro5EE
Gizmodo Explains Why ISO Is the New Megapixel
Image sensors come in a range of sizes, as you can see in this helpful diagram from Wikipedia. A bigger sensor, like the full-frame slab used in the Canon 5D or Nikon D3, has more space for photosites than the thumbnail-sized sensor that fits in little point-and-shoots. So, if they’re both 12-megapixels, that is, they both have 12 million photosites, the bigger sensor can obviously collect a lot more light per pixel, since the pixels are bigger.
If you’re grasping for a specification to look for, the distance between photosites is referred to as pixel pitch, which roughly tells you how big the photosite, or pixel, is. For instance, a Nikon D3 with a 36mm x 23.9mm sensor has a pixel pitch of 8.45 microns, while a Canon S90 point-and-shoot with a 7.60 mm x 5.70 mm sensor has a pitch of 2 microns. To put that in less math-y terms, if you got the same amount of light to hit the image sensors the D3 and the S90—you know, you took the exact same exposure—the bigger pixels in the D3 would be able to collect and hold on to more of the light. When you’re looking for low-light performance, it’s immediately obvious why that’s a good thing.
Bye-Bye To Kodak Tri-X 320 ProPacks
Due to significantly decreased sales volumes, Kodak is retiring two medium-format KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X 320 Films.
- KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X 320 Film / 320TXP / 120 pro-pack 5 rolls / CAT 8188914
- KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X 320 Film / 320TXP / 220 pro-pack 5 rolls / CAT 8286825
Based on current sales, product is expected to be available in the market through March 2010.
Suggested replacement:
- KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X 400 Film / TX120 / CAT 1965599
COLOR PRINTING at COS
Making a Test Strip and Making the Print
Dedicated color enlargers contain an adjustable filter mechanism between the light source and the negative, enabling the user to control the amount of cyan, magenta and yellow light reaching the negative.
Step1
Review contact sheet and pick a negative to enlarge. Take negative strip out of sleeve and place inside the frame in the center of the negative carrier. Make sure the emulsion side of the film, or shiny side, faces up. Close the enlarger head using a lever usually located to the right of the negative carrier slot. Switch on the enlarger light.
Step2
Focus the image on the masking easel – a flat metal plate with sliding arms on all four sides for cropping the image manually – on the baseboard. Adjust the easel arms to mask off a portion of the image that gives a fair representation of the range of colors in the image. Switch the enlarger light off and place a piece of print paper on the easel. Make sure the ends are held in place by the easel
Step3
Place a piece of cardboard over the test strip leaving a small part exposed. After each exposure move the cardboard to reveal more of the test strip until it is completely exposed.
Step4
Make several test strips using the same time intervals, but increasing the amount of two of the colors on the color dial each time. For example, the color dial in the first test strip might read yellow 60, magenta 30 and cyan 0, the next one yellow 70, magenta 40, and cyan 0.
Step5
Develop the test patch and take it into a lighted room. Decide which exposed segment looks best. Use this as a gauge for deciding how long to expose the print paper and how to set the color dials when making an enlargement.
Step6
Switch on enlarger light to make the print. Place a piece of used print paper white-side-up on the easel and focus the image. Create a border around the image by sliding the easel arms up to the edge of the image so it just overlaps.
Step7
Set the color dial and timer based on the test strip and switch on the timer.
Step8
Remove the print from the easel and begin developing.
INKJETS ARE DEAD
For once, I concur with Ken Rockwell’s 2006 assessment of this dead technology.