Three Things Everybody Knows

There are three things in this world that everyone is an expert at, 1) making love, 2) raising someone else's children, and 3) taking pictures. How often do you hear someone say, "I can take my camera there and take that picture myself". In these Musings I will stay away from the first two topics but will try write about the third.

If you are photographer then you know that in reality the time it takes to make an image may be seconds or years. The negative may be parts of a second in the making. But how many years of experience living and working as a photographer did it take to get to the point of clicking the shutter?

The ability to set up a camera and record a scene on film and then make a print from that negative is not hard. Almost anyone can do it. But to make an image that speaks to me as an artist and, hopefully, speaks to an audience is very hard. In essence I ask myself "What am I bringing new to the conversation about this particular subject?"

Once the image is made, presentation becomes an issue. Is it going to be a silver print or platinum? Contact size or enlarged? If enlarged, then to what size? How do I convince an audience or individual that this image is worth purchasing? Ahhh there's the rub. Commerce. This is the point at which the "universal" expertise comes into play. "I can take that picture."

But as an artist I have to sell work to survive and maintain a business. My prints are not inexpensive. $1750 for a 12x20 matted platinum print is, I feel, a reasonable price. My very large 30x40 silver prints are almost $4000. Currently I have three galleries that handle my work: Phillips Gallery (Salt Lake City, UT), Jameson Gallery (Portland, ME), and Indian Hill Gallery (Wells, VT). However, the market for large expensive prints is limited.

So, how do I reach an audience that wants to hang an image on the wall but can't afford a platinum print or a large silver print? What if someone finds my work interesting but can't afford $1750 for a 12x20 platinum print?

My book Tillman Crane/STRUCTURE is beautifully reproduced. It is possible to cut the prints out of the book, mat them and hang them on the wall. I would prefer that the book remain intact as a complete art form in and of itself, but when you buy a book it is yours. I own the copyright but it's possible to cut out individual images and do with them as you wish.

Images also appear in various magazines. View Camera Magazine and Photo Techniques have both run articles that I have written and reproduced many of my photographs.

In May of 2001, Lenswork an interview and portfolio of my images. They were some of the best magazine reproductions of my work that I had ever seen. (Lenswork is a terrific magazine. If you don't know them you should check them out. The articles are either interviews with photographers, short essays about photographers and/or portfolios of work. It is quite an exciting magazine.) I know of several people who cut the reproductions out of Lenswork and matted them.

Ansel Adams used to offer "special edition" prints from a few of his negatives. They were printed under his supervision and were offered only at one size. It was a way for individual to own an Ansel Adams print. He did not make the prints but they were made to his specifications. They were affordable. For the past several years Lenswork has been offering Special Edition silver gelatin prints. They work out an arrangement with a photographer, scan an original print, make a digital negative of that print then make a high quality silver gelatin print. These are beautiful prints. And they are affordable! In the current issue, Lenswork is offering Special Edition silver gelatin prints of Jay Dusard's work. Imagine a Jay Dusard image for less than $100. They are 11x14 silver gelatin prints, selenium toned for archival quality, signed and numbered. It is an outstanding way to collect inspirational images.

Several months ago I was asked if I wanted to participate in the Special Edition Program. I was hesitant until Brooks Jensen told me they wanted to offer my work as a photogravure. I was thrilled. For years I have loved photogravures. In my office at The Waterford School I had a set of photogravure images from Camera Work Magazine. (No I didn't cut the prints out of the magazine. A friend had several issues that were falling apart and were missing pages so he gave me several images and I had them matted and framed.) It was the only way I could have Steichen and Evans images to look at on a daily basis. They were wonderful.

I had often wondered what my images would look like as photogravures so I committed myself to the project. Brooks and I selected three 12x20 images from STRUCTURE to be reproduced as photogravures: Interior Window, Staircase Union Pacific Station, and Brooms. I shipped silver prints for scanning and platinum prints to match in printing.

Master printer Russell Dodd of Working Theory Press is making the photogravures. The write up below is taken directly from his web site. It is a better explanation of the process than I could write.


The Photogravure Process

"To make a photogravure, the printer begins with a film positive and a printing plate. The film positive is derived from the photographer's camera negative (or original print), and the plate is a sheet of specially coated, light-sensitive copper or steel. The printing plate is exposed to light through the film positive. The light hardens the exposed areas, with the unexposed areas left available to chemical action. This action, called etching, washes away the unhardened areas, leaving cells or depressions in the plate.

When the printer inks the plate, the ink sinks into the cells. The printer then wipes the plate, leaving ink in the cells and the hardened areas clean. The plate is placed into the press, a sheet of fine art paper placed over the plate, and the printer runs the paper-plate sandwich through an etching press. The pressure forces the paper fibers into the cells, pulling out the ink.

With this method, the photographic image is impressed into the paper. The depth of the ink, the pressure of the press, and the texture of the art paper together create a soft, velvety, three-dimensional quality to the image, very much unlike a hard, shiny, and flat black and white silver print."

The proof prints arrived the other day and they are beautiful. They are unlike any other photographic process. They are printed slightly smaller than my original 12x20 negatives. They are unique and distinctive prints and cannot be mistaken for platinum or silver prints. And best of all they are affordable. Lenswork is offering each image for $99 or all three for $247. If you have ever wanted to own one of my images this is a great way to do it. The only snag is that they orders must be in by September 30, 2002 as the edition closes out at that time. You can go to the Lenswork web site and find out the details of the offer or go to The Working Theory Press web site and find out more about the Photogravure process and the other artists with which Mr. Dodd works.

This is a way that I as an artist can make my images available at an affordable price. It doesn't completely solve the issue of "everyone as an expert in photography" but like a platinum print or beautiful silver print these photogravures by Mr. Dodd stand out as distinct and unique pieces of art. And you can't get them made at the one hour photo lab.