Print Exchange Revisited

[Nige]

Jim, your latest idea sounds good to me. I don't think we have enough people to group into categories. Put me down as a blind exchangee! Maybe start a new topic for 'Blind Print Exchange' or something with the rules so everyone can find/read/sign up easy!

 

[Jim Chinn]

I agree that it would be better initially to just have one open category and make sure participants are aware of what is involved. Nige, what is your opinion about shooting for a September start and allowing the next 2 to three weeks to gauge interest and see who else wants to be on the list? At the very least, you and I can trade some work!

 

[Nige]

sounds good to me... the rest of the month for interested folks to 'sign up', you pair everyone up and let everyone know who their swapping with Sept 1, then everyone prints/sends their pic in Sept (maybe make it so that is should happen in the 1st two weeks because things take a couple of weeks to get to me/others) and we do it again the next month... new participants can be added during the month ready for the pairing exercise, or if you want to miss the 'round' we let you know. Bit of administration on your part but shouldn't be too bad... I can help you do something computer wise to choose the pairings if you want/need help. Start a new topic, list how it's going to work, and ask for people to declare their interest!

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Nige]

I intend to participate in both (assuming this blind swap gets off the ground). One thing I've already gained is actually printing something to completion... I have boxes and boxes of work prints, but not many completed ones!

 

[Jim Chinn]

I hope people do not get the impression that I am trying to replace the current exchange. I just think there is a lot of room for other options to get people to exchange work and discuss ideas.
there is 700+ registered members on this site and i am just trying to get more involved in the site and communicating ideas.

Thanks for the offer of help Nige. I guess we will see if anyone is interested and maybe we could post an announcement on the news list seeking interested members.

Just to restate some of my reasons for offering another format.

Not everyone has a scanner, quality scanner, or desire to scan and post work on the site.

Not everyone wants to print one or two dozen postcards every time an exchange rolls around.

For some, a deadline and commitment to have work complete is actually a motivating factor.

If you receive a print you don't like just throw it in the trash, you don't have to feel obligated to hang a print.

Sometimes it is good to be exposed to ideas and work that you would not ordinarily seek out for exchange or purchase.

I would hope that such an exchange would provide the participants the opportunity to carry on a further dialogue about subject, personal vision and ideas beyond discussing papers, film and developers.

I think it would provide a more comfortable and informal method of exchanging work and ideas.

While I would hope that anyone who participates would provide work that was the best of their ability, it is inclusive of those who at this time feel that their work is not up to snuff for the official gallery. It could also provide feed back and a first step producing better work of less experienced printers.

Anyway, Nige I can send some text about an announcement and if anyone wants to contribute look back through previous posts by me for the proposed guidlines.

 

[Jorge]

Folks, you are free to initiate a monthly print exchange as well as continue using the gallery print exchange. There is nothing wrong with this. So if Jim is willing to work on this I say more ht power to him and go for it. The exchange gallery will still be there for those of us which do not want a serious commitment.

 

[Jim Chinn]

I have been pretty much out of the loop for several days working on a project, but have discovered that the "blind" print exchange is growing by leaps and bounds as we are up to 3 participants! (Nige, Silverpixel5 and myself) If you think you may have an interest in this once a month opportunity to share your work and ideas with others please review some of the previous posts beginning with my July 16 post in this thread.

The more people the better, but just one more to make it an even 4 for now would be great. Let me know if you are interested via this forum or private message function.

Thanks,

Jim Chinn

 

[Lex Jenkins]

Sounds interesting. I'm willing to participate on a limited basis, that being the following:

1. I'll print only on Ilford MGIV RC glossy postcard stock.

2. The editions will be very limited, no more than 5 per image. That doesn't mean I won't produce more prints on Ilford postcard stock of a particular image. It just means that I'll only produce up to 5 for the purposes of participation on APUG.

3. The photos will be limited to my "Vistas Tejas" series of b&w photos.

The prints will be selenium toned (KRST or Paterson Acutone), signed on the reverse with the APUG-edition (hey, I might become famous or, at least, infamous) with some basic info about film and processing.

I'm doing this for rather mercenary purposes. I'm interested in feedback on a theme, that being images that are gritty, peculiar, sometimes outright ugly, that are particularly suitable for postcard size prints because the impact is not diminished by the smaller scale. Fact is, I'd like to find a market to sell these things. Hey, weirder things have happened in photography.

If you're not interesting in swapping a fine Azo contact print from an ULF negative, selectively bleached and carefully dual-toned, for my mere postcard size RC print, I can certainly understand that. But if you'd like a copy anyway we can probably work out something. Like, for example, if you happen to have contacts in the postcard publishing industry... ;>

 

[bmac]

Lex, you may be able to find more people willing to trade for your postcards in the postcard exchange... Just a thought.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Lex, definitely check out the postcard exchange. I've been doing it, and it's a lot of fun, and you get some interesting postcards in return. Info at:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Lex Jenkins]

Ah, thanks so much for the link and info, folks. I didn't realize there was a postcard exchange - still trying to acquaint myself with navigating APUG.

 

[Jim Chinn]

Lex,

You can also join in the blind print exchange that has been discussed previously. You can send work in progress, contacts, experiments etc. We are more in the vien of viewing and discussing current ideas you may have, subject matter, motivation and general thoughts on photography. This exchange is a sort of testing the waters forum to help receive feedback and develop for the more formal presentation of ones work.

Anything goes, you just have to be willing to accept anything in return. The only stipulation is no inkjet prints. And offline discussion is encouraged between participants, and hopefully in the future a chat room discussion between several participants.

Presentation can be a raw print RC or Fiber (not mounted) or mounted and matted if you perfer. B&W, color, hand colored, manipulated, poloroid, collage, ripped, torn, grainy, gritty, alt process, photogram etc. Send 4x5 or anything larger.

If anyone is interested in joining for the October exchange, send me a private message with your address and I will message you back with the name and address of October's partner. If you participate we encourage you to have you work in the mail by the first of October.




Thanks,

James Chinn

 

[Lex Jenkins]

That's an interesting proposition, James. Because of my propensity for sometimes making dark, murky prints I'm not always certain that the effect will work for most viewers. And such prints are virtually impossible to scan well enough that all viewers can be assured of seeing a jpeg as originally intended.

So getting feedback on the print itself would be very useful.

 

[Jim Chinn]

That's the idea Lex. Share ideas in print for an in depth discussion of work. Some will say submit the work to the online gallery, but I think you will agree that for someone to appreciate what you are trying to accomplish or communicate in an image, they need to have a print(s) in hand.

One other caveat is that you may be paired with someone who does not have the same ability, or subject interest that you have. One of the purposes of this exchange is to expose everyone to other facets of the medium and not just prints that you normally are attracted to.

The pairings change or rotate monthly, so in the course of a year you would be exposed to the work of 12 different photographers, have examples of work and feedback from those 12.

And there is no stipulation on what you send for subject matter every month. You can send the same image to everyone, a different one every month, or a variety of images. My other hope is that participants can find others that they value as sources of positive criticism, feedback and motivation to share additional work with outside of the exchange.

 

[bmac]

There haven't been any new posts to the Exchange gallery in a while, has interest dried up? I'm about to print / submit another image. Anyone else interested?

Brian

 

[philldresser]

There haven't been any new posts to the Exchange gallery in a while, has interest dried up? I'm about to print / submit another image. Anyone else interested?

Brian

Jim/Brian

I have not been involved upto now but i am interested. PM me if you are looking for new recruits

Phill

 

[bmac]

Phil,

there are two print exchanges going on with APUG right now. This thread has unfortunatly gone off topic and made it confusing for people just reading it. The original exchange entails the member posting a scan of a photo in the Print Exchange gallery and working out deals on their own. The second one is a blind exchange of prints. Jim is in charge of that one.

If you are interested in the original exchange, just post a scan in the gallery and you'll be in business.

Brian

 

[Nige]

I'm catching up with life and will be aiming to post in the Print Exchange Gallery soon...

 

[c6h6o3]

There haven't been any new posts to the Exchange gallery in a while, has interest dried up? I'm about to print / submit another image. Anyone else interested?

Brian

Jim/Brian

I have not been involved upto now but i am interested. PM me if you are looking for new recruits

Phill

I'll stick another one in there. It'll take me a days to print it, though.

 

[bmac]

Kids, there arent any images in the new print exchange gallery I'll do my best to get one printed this weekend.

 

[Jim Moore]

Brian,

I was thinking the very same thing. I'm planning on printing a couple of 11x14's this weekend. With the holiday I have four days off

Jim

Kids, there arent any images in the new print exchange gallery I'll do my best to get one printed this weekend.