Michael Kenna print quality

bill schwab

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dpurdy said:
I went to a very large book store later (Powells) with a very large photography section and didn't have anything at all by Kenna.
DP
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Probably because most of them sell out... I don't think Nazraeli deals with regular book stores either. I heard the new one is beautiful and that only 2000 of the first editions were made. They'll be gone soon. Good snag.
 

jovo

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dpurdy said:
.....that he was showing 8x8" silver prints when I keep getting told that isn't special enough,s
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Well, you're right about that in a prominent NYC gallery. Here's a link to some work that I actually like (as opposed to the countless desaturated, enormous, color 'graphs that frequent these gallery walls by exceedingly boring photographers). Check out the sizes of these puppies.....who has an easel or a wet sink that'll make this kind of stuff?

http://www.bonnibenrubi.com/index3.html
 

Vaughn

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jovo said:
Check out the sizes of these puppies.....who has an easel or a wet sink that'll make this kind of stuff?
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Our Intermeadiate Photo Class always has a mural project -- 3'x5' prints from 4"x5" negatives. I turn a couple D-5XL's around to project onto the floor, and we use troughs to develop and fix. We wash is a 6' long sink (about 24" wide and 12" deep). It works, though the students usually get a dimple or two or three in their prints (RC paper). But at that size and for their first attempt a few dimples don't matter!

It is actually a self-portrait assignment, also, and they create some pretty amazing images!

Vaughn
 

Kirk Keyes

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Dennis - I hear he lives in the Portland area somewhere - Hillsboro or Forest Grove or somewhere out there on the west side. Just find his house and stop by for a visit sometime! :^)
 

Patrick Kolb

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I had a chance to visit with Michael at the opening of his Portland show, and I have to second the comments about his being a very nice person and very giving of his time. The sad news is that he moved to Seattle about three or four months ago, too bad, Portland's loss.
 

Kirk Keyes

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Well Dennis - Seattle is only 3 hours away.
 

JLP

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Hi Patrick and Kirk, nice to meet you. Do you know the opening hours for that gallery with Kenna's work?

Thanks.

jan
 

Kirk Keyes

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Greetings Jan -

I have no idea. Hopefully Dennis or Patrick will answer.

Kirk

PS - my emulsion was runny as heck but there was an image. I'l bring the plate for you all to see next month.
 
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dpurdy

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Hello Jan, the gallery is open from 11AM to 6PM Tues thru Saturday. Show is over on the 22nd of December to be followed by an exhibit of Aaron Siskind Photographs from the 1940s to the 1960s. I am looking forward to that show.
Dennis
I don't generally go to openings so probably won't see you there.
 

gainer

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Some parts of this thread have reminded me of some stories from one of my other worlds. Fritz Kreisler, great violinist, gave a recital in which he performed with his usual brilliance, then smashed what everyone assumed was his beloved Strad over a chair back. He hastened to explain that it was a cheap fiddle he had picked up at Sears Roebuck on the way over. The Strad would have been easier to play, but not the reason for his greatness. Another fiddler, Isaac Stern, whose favorite comment, with a twinkle in his eye, when someone complimented him was "I left no tone unSterned", said to a lady who had said to him "Mr. Stern, you must have a really great violin" ,"You know, I never get to hear it from a distance as you did. Would you please play a passage on it so I can enjoy it too?"
 

gainer

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I forgot one. A man asked an absent minded musician on the streets of the Big Apple how to get to Carnegie Hall. The answer was "Practice, practice, practice."
 

Kirk Keyes

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gainer said:
Fritz Kreisler, great violinist, gave a recital in which he performed with his usual brilliance, then smashed what everyone assumed was his beloved Strad over a chair back.
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Didn't Jack Black do this in "School of Rock"?
 

JLP

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Don't know about Jack Black but Pete Townsend used to do it to his Strat.
Mmm maybe it was a Gibson after all.
 

jovo

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Heifetz, on being told by an admiring concert goer after a performance that his violin sounded wonderful, held it up to his ear and said: "How odd, madam, I don't hear a thing."
 
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dpurdy

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I heard back from Michael Kenna and as predicted his response was quite short and sweet. He says he does a light selenium toning.

There was a reason Les Paul developed his guitar sound and a reason people used it. Carlos Santana could have worked with the sound of the Strat but he preferred the audio language of the Les Paul. People who contend that the technical doesn't matter are perhaps image catchers more than print makers.
Dennis
 

gainer

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Technical and technique are two different beasts. The first does not make the second, but makes the second possible. I'd wager that we all know and use from time to time the technical aspects of Kenna's printing. Given the same negative, in Kenna's darkroom with all his technical accoutrements at hand, would we all make the same print?
 

Jerry Basierbe

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gainer said:
would we all make the same print?
Click to expand...

Absolutely not. One of the things John Sexton does in his Fine Tuning workshop is send every participant an identical negative and has them print their version of it before the workshop and bring it with them. At the workshop he has everyone put there interpretations of the print up at the same time. Not one will look like another one.

Jerry
 

Tom Stanworth

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What were your experiences on that workshop? Did you learn a lot, improve noticeably etc. I have been thinking about a workshop to improve my printing.
 

brian steinberger

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Just for future reference.. I found much technical information on his interviews page on his website. Here is the link. Some info may be dated, but it looks like Tri-x in D-76 and Ilford MGIV FB in Ilford Universal developer. Then lightly sepia tone. Print size is 7 1/2 x 7 1/2".
 

Christopher Colley

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i bet he has an ND filter.
 

Peter Schrager

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He uses a semi gloss slightly warmtone paper that is long discontinued from the nineties...he bought a huge stock of it and thats what he prints on

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
 
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