Sim2
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Hallo there,
I went to the Focus on Imaging 2011 trade show at the NEC (Birmingham UK) this week, with the sole purpose of picking up the trial pack of Ilford's new 300 paper, fully expecting a tiny stand tucked at the back of the hall next to the doughnut concession.
For a niche producer in a (supposed) dying sector, Ilford had a very strong and visible analogue presence. I know there is a lot of doom and gloom about product prices and availabilty but this did not look like a producer financially riding the downturn to inevitable closure.
What came across very strongly was their attitude, love of the product/process and willingness to talk to even non-buying customers. Yes, they had inkjet papers on sale but a good two-thirds of the stand was devoted to analogue - papers/film on sale; process and print service; Holga, Zero One pinhole and a 5x4 field camera; college students shooting portraits of "volunteers" with the Print-out-paper; framed displays of the possibilities with the new paper with printed samples available to handle. Tim Rudman was on the stand talking one-to-one with people about the new paper and toning in general and our very own Mr Simon Galley was there too!
Yes, I know this sounds like a very non-critical posting and I am very biased (!) but in hall full of digital post-processing, inkjets and sensor cleaning I applaud the investment made in the presence.
Ah yes, I did buy some of the new 300 paper and the great thing is that having seen "real" prints in person I have a better understanding of the capabilities of the paper before even printing with it - the learning curve may not be quite as steep as without seeing samples.
Thank you Ilford and long live the analogue!
Sim2.
I went to the Focus on Imaging 2011 trade show at the NEC (Birmingham UK) this week, with the sole purpose of picking up the trial pack of Ilford's new 300 paper, fully expecting a tiny stand tucked at the back of the hall next to the doughnut concession.
For a niche producer in a (supposed) dying sector, Ilford had a very strong and visible analogue presence. I know there is a lot of doom and gloom about product prices and availabilty but this did not look like a producer financially riding the downturn to inevitable closure.
What came across very strongly was their attitude, love of the product/process and willingness to talk to even non-buying customers. Yes, they had inkjet papers on sale but a good two-thirds of the stand was devoted to analogue - papers/film on sale; process and print service; Holga, Zero One pinhole and a 5x4 field camera; college students shooting portraits of "volunteers" with the Print-out-paper; framed displays of the possibilities with the new paper with printed samples available to handle. Tim Rudman was on the stand talking one-to-one with people about the new paper and toning in general and our very own Mr Simon Galley was there too!
Yes, I know this sounds like a very non-critical posting and I am very biased (!) but in hall full of digital post-processing, inkjets and sensor cleaning I applaud the investment made in the presence.
Ah yes, I did buy some of the new 300 paper and the great thing is that having seen "real" prints in person I have a better understanding of the capabilities of the paper before even printing with it - the learning curve may not be quite as steep as without seeing samples.
Thank you Ilford and long live the analogue!
Sim2.
