Salgado and Genesis

[David Allen]

Just got back from the Genesis exhibition here in Berlin - very well worth a visit.

However, something started to interfere with my enjoyment of some of the images.

In all of his work that I have seen, he has used grain as a form of texture in his images that make snow, icebergs, bright clouds, etc all shine but with a sense of detail. Some of the prints lacked this and so I started looking at the dates - all of the later images lacked something. So, as we all do now, I checked on the Net and found out he changed to digital half way through the project. Now these later images are printed on baryt paper but they are from digital files and, for my taste, lack something.

I then found this quote:

"I changed to digital because of what i call the disease of airport security since 9/11 – the damaging effect that X-ray machines can have on traditional camera film when the film goes through multiple times"

Well fair enough I thought to myself - after all, these projects cost a fortune and to have your film ruined after tramping through a forest or over a clacier must be a real bummer.

Then I continued to read the article and he said "the images I now create are better than those that I took on a film camera".

Well I do not agree.

What do other people think who have seen the exhibition (please note not the book as the printing varies greatly between editions).

Bests,

David.
www.dsallen.de

 

[gorbas]

I agree with you David! His latest pictures seriously "lack" something, seeing part of the Genesis exhibition almost 2 years ago in Santa Monica gallery (not the full show) I was seriously disappointed. Well.....

 

[faustotesta]

I haven't seen the exhibition. But Salgado's quotes "X-ray damages" and the fact that nowadays work is better than what he did before sound to me as if he has to
justify his "digitalization". He took a couple of steps backward.....

 

[Bob Carnie]

The Genesis images that were on display here ROM last year were inkjet and they sucked the big one.


The silver gelatin prints on the other hand are now from LVT negatives from digital capture then printed in wet.
I do not think they are as good as the images he made for the show I saw at George Eastman House. Those prints
were very good.

I think the two steps are hurting the quality a bit these days by going to LVT then to enlarger.

 

[darkosaric]

I have seen Genesis exhibition in Paris last year. Yes, Salgado uses now canon eos1 and then transfer digital files on 4x5 negative, and prints are done in classical darkroom. What is better? Well for me the best work from Salgado is Other Americas - he did those on film, and without Leica .

 

[cliveh]

I have seen Genesis exhibition in Paris last year. Yes, Salgado uses now canon eos1 and then transfer digital files on 4x5 negative, and prints are done in classical darkroom. What is better? Well for me the best work from Salgado is Other Americas - he did those on film, and without Leica .

Digital or film is now not a question of quality, but what you prefer to work with.

 

[Mike Crawford]

I did see the large platinum Genesis folio at Photo London last month. I think it best I keep my opinion to myself, but if I ever did had the million required to purchase such, lets say I'd find something else to purchase! The traditional Silver Gelatin prints of the same work displayed in other parts of Photo London looked pretty good though!

 

[Bob Carnie]

Geezz Mike tell us what you really think.

His printer/ s back in the early 90's who did the migration prints were very good, at the Metivier Gallery here in Toronto some of the old prints and new silvers were hung in the same room. The new silvers were quite nice but I was really drawn to the older prints.

The major show of over 200 prints were all inkjet in the museum and these really made we want to walk out of the room very fast.
It saddened me to see such poorly executed work. I think they were hoping the sheer number of prints would be impressive, and admiditly thousands loved the work but quite a few like me were really dissapointed.
I am not sure if he is using the same people these days and if he is still having
current prints made via enlarger or has gone completely to scan and lvt negative.

I did see the large platinum Genesis folio at Photo London last month. I think it best I keep my opinion to myself, but if I ever did had the million required to purchase such, lets say I'd find something else to purchase! The traditional Silver Gelatin prints of the same work displayed in other parts of Photo London looked pretty good though!

 

[jeffreyg]

I saw the full Genisis exhibition in Milan last October. While technique and materials can be discussed and criticized I admire the effort that it took to cover such a vast subject. The exhibition was displayed in a number of rooms so there wasn't a great hall with long walls of pictures. It was quite intimate. I found it worth seeing but was not fond of the book.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[pdeeh]

Interesting counterpoint to this thread here (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I saw the show at La Maison Europienne in Paris in 2013. I agree you could tell the difference between the digital and the analog, but on the whole I did enjoy the exhibit. It's been two years now since I saw it so I can't really comment on the distinctions between the digital and analog prints because I don't remember them precisely. I just remember them as all being quite large, and compositionally and subject-wise, being very obviously Salgado.

 

[Trask]

I haven't seen any of the Genesis prints "live", but I did receive the book and immediately thought the greys were wrong -- something wasn't correct. It reminded me of some "captures" I've seen by Leica digital cameras that simply are too -- well, maybe the word I want hasn't been invited. They seem almost too sharp, with the greys oddly luminous at times. OK, I know that's one man's perception, but as a result I can't say I really enjoy looking at the book.

 

[doughowk]

If you can get past that almost all images are printed across the gutter, then the book is quite a bargain.
Would love to see an exhibit especially if it included silver gelatin prints. The DVD "Salt of the Earth" is an excellent biographical account of Salgado's life. My only quibble with it is the frequent ghost-like appearance of Salgado discussing his work - overused cliche (reminds me of a Bergman film - Death in Seventh Seal).