Phil Davis - Dexter Portfolio

[frednewman]

I just posted Phil Davis's - Dexter Portfolio. Dexter is a small town in Michigan not too far from where Phil lived. The portfolio was a test of his Incident System and the BTZS System. Phil taught how to use an incident meter for large format photography and anyone who has taken a BTZS workshop knows that is quite easy to learn.

Also I figured most photographers have not seen his photographs as his favorite things were teaching and sensitometry.

The Dexter Portfolio is posted on our other web site BTZS.org. It is a web site dedicated to BTZS and Phil Davis.

In order to view the portfolio you will need to download the Microsoft Silverlight
plug-in (aka MS's version of Flash). This was done for a number of reasons:
The main one being that it has a really nice full-screen mode which is
the best way to view photos like these I think. It allows large images online and let people see the full scan. They look so much better that way. I also personally really like the slideshow gallery
widget and it resizes to fit user's browser and does nice & sharp image scaling (i.e.
won't over-stretch them). And it works on Windows, Mac, etc... and in
all browsers.

User who don't already have Silverlight installed will be prompted to do
so and it is really easy, smaller and faster than installing Flash. This
only needs to be done once of course.

I think our webmaster did a great job and even I was able to download and install Silverlight.

Hope you enjoy the photographs of Phil Davis.

Fred Newman

 

[Mahler_one]

I use a PowerPC Mac and cannot install Silverlight, so I will not be viewing any of his work on your site.

You might still be able to look at the photos at BTZS.org without the plug in.

Fred: Thanks for posting these images. I think an impartial observer might say with no disrespect to the late Mr. Davis that he continues to be best known, as you have stated, for his work in "education" in the broadest sense. Those who take the time to consider and use the BTZS system gain an appreciation of how Mr. Davis build upon the work of Anselm Adams, Minor White, Richard Zakia, and so many others so as to make the application of the Zone System more accessible and easy to use. I have heard and read that understanding the BTZS methods can be difficult, and almost inaccessible. With respect to those who make such comments, I can only ask that they consider reading Minor White's books on the modern application of the Zone System, and then take another look at BTZS. Adherents of any successful method as a means of achieving any defined goad tend to think that the method they use is "the best" way of succeeding. In such context, those who use the BTZS system might be excused for having a similar sense. Photographers taking the time to read Mr. Davis's book will certainly find that they have an appreciation of incident metering, and that such metering removes the need to apply the sometimes difficult concepts of zones when exposing one's negatives. In addition, reading Mr. Davis's DMax news letters adds an overall gloss to a system that has enabled many to reach their goal of making reproducible negatives that can print reliably on one's printing paper of choice. The fact that Mr. Davis's photos are not to be found in multiple collections at multiple libraries and museums does not diminish his contributions. I apologize for what must appear to some to be a panegyric.

 

[Marek Warunkiewicz]

Silverlight

I use a PowerPC Mac and cannot install Silverlight, so I will not be viewing any of his work on your site.

PowerPC as in an old one? Because I have a semi-new (as in two years old) mac tower with system 10.6 on it and Silverlight is available for it.

 

[frednewman]

Hi Greg

The web master will work on it - he's quite busy at the moment and I'll post when he gets it up for older computers.

Fred Newman

 

[patrickjames]

I would love to see the images, but I can't since I have a PPC Mac. Your website falls into the poor design category that was prevalent years ago I am afraid. No one wants to wait to see images. You may want to rethink how the images are displayed. HTML works on every computer.

 

[Robert Hall]

I was able to see Phil's portfolio in 2001 when I was down at a BTZS workshop with Phil and Fred. It's a great testament to Phil and his work and what he was able to do with film and manipulating the films dynamic range.

I think it also allowed us a look into Phil and who he was. Being a quiet man, he was never one to talk about himself. Letting these images pass by unseen would be unfortunate as it gives us a glimpse of how a great educator and photographer saw.

Thanks for the opportunity Fred.

Kindest Regards,

 

[frednewman]

Hi Greg

You should now be able to view the images. Please let me know. Thanks

Fred Newman