Beth Moon (in Nov/Dec 2009 LensWork)

[ntenny]

Just curious: Was anybody else's mind a bit blown by Beth Moon's photos of carnivorous plants in the current _LensWork_? I've always really liked the Victorian style of natural-history illustration, and these photos remind me a bit of that style. From a purely photographic point of view, I'm also really taken with the tonal scales. This is one of those bodies of work that makes me want to go magic-bullet chasing, trying to figure out the secret that puts those tones on paper.

They seem all to be studio shots, so I suppose the "secret" is largely in really understanding lighting and similar artistic principles. You know---the stuff I can't run out and order from Freestyle. Humph!

-NT

 

[perkeleellinen]

Have you seen this?

http://www.bethmoon.com/SavageGarden01.html

 

[ntenny]

Have you seen this?

http://www.bethmoon.com/SavageGarden01.html

Yes, it's the same images plus a few (and I tend to agree that _LensWork_ ran the best of the lot).

I'd buy a portfolio in a hot minute if it were priced like the _LensWork_ portfolios, but they're sold through Actual Galleries without pricing information posted, which I assume means "if you have to ask, you can't afford it".

-NT

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Interesting work! Very impressive.

Jeff

 

[SuzanneR]

Yes, it's the same images plus a few (and I tend to agree that _LensWork_ ran the best of the lot).

I'd buy a portfolio in a hot minute if it were priced like the _LensWork_ portfolios, but they're sold through Actual Galleries without pricing information posted, which I assume means "if you have to ask, you can't afford it".

-NT

She makes platinum prints, no? Time and materials can't be inexpensive for her to produce such beautiful work. Really not worth trying to sell for the bargain basement prices of the Lenswork portfolios.

 

[ntenny]

She makes platinum prints, no? Time and materials can't be inexpensive for her to produce such beautiful work. Really not worth trying to sell for the bargain basement prices of the Lenswork portfolios.

Agreed. (I mean, not doing platinum prints myself I don't have a clear sense of the real-world costs, but I take the point.)

I didn't mean to suggest "she should sell cheaper", but "I can't afford what I expect the prices are, alas". Just to make that clear.

-NT

 

[jtk]

I don't think the importance of her work depends much on platinum printing, any more than the importance of Penn's work (also platinum) does.

Edward Weston's best was printed on Kodabromide.

http://bethmoon.com/portraitsoftime/

 

[removed account4]

does anybody know what sort of camera she uses?
i poked around her website, read interviews and watch
her create her largePTPD prints on you tube... an interview mentions
mating 21st and 19th century technology so i am thinking either digital capture to enlarged
negative to PTPD ( her newest series is in color so i am guessing its digital capture and digital print ?)
but her older work .. any ideas?
i was lucky enough to see irving penn's dye transfer and PTPD work within the last few years .. the prints were just beautiful
i can only imagine what beth moon's work looks like in person .. anybody seen them in person ?

 

[jtk]

Moon explains her process on her website.

I too am awed by Penn's platinum prints (and pro platinum prints generally).

However I don't think anybody's dye transfer work beats Ektacolor, done by the right professionals...except perhaps in terms of archives, and given today's state of Ektacolor, even that "disadvantage" is in question.

 

[Richard Man]

does anybody know what sort of camera she uses?

She used a Pentax 6x7 for the Ravens and earlier work. "Obviously" she uses digital for her color work now.