This year, I organized two alt process print exchanges. I did it for the selfish reason of wanting to see firsthand what various processes look like on paper.
I got what I wanted: A mailbox full of cyanotypes, carbon prints, salt prints and others.
But unexpectedly I got much more than that. Most important, I found that exchanging prints with other photographers pulled us closer together as artists and Photrio members. Or, at least, it pulled me closer to them -- I cannot presume that it worked in both directions. Now, when I see Photrio posts from others who participated in the exchanges, I have a newfound respect for their words, and a greater understanding of the artists behind them.
And it has made me a better printer. Not just from the task of printing at some volume for others, though that is certainly one reason. But also from the group discussions about the prints as they are circulated (in Photrio group DMs, not in the public threads).
And beyond the prints as exemplars of processes, many of them are truly precious, worthy of framing and hanging. A delicate cyanotype by @Patrick Robert James of a bowl and whisk. A kinetic palladium print by @TheFlyingCamera of a carousel. A quiet salt print by @fgorga of a study. I sent out prints. I received art.
If more Photrio members chose to organize or participate in an exchange, I believe it would go a long way toward strengthening the community that @Sean has built here over the years. This may be obvious to others on the site, but it was not to me until this year. There are precious few avenues for having this kind of dialogue and exchange among photographers and printers and artists from around the world. Photrio is one and we are all of us the richer for the opportunity.
I got what I wanted: A mailbox full of cyanotypes, carbon prints, salt prints and others.
But unexpectedly I got much more than that. Most important, I found that exchanging prints with other photographers pulled us closer together as artists and Photrio members. Or, at least, it pulled me closer to them -- I cannot presume that it worked in both directions. Now, when I see Photrio posts from others who participated in the exchanges, I have a newfound respect for their words, and a greater understanding of the artists behind them.
And it has made me a better printer. Not just from the task of printing at some volume for others, though that is certainly one reason. But also from the group discussions about the prints as they are circulated (in Photrio group DMs, not in the public threads).
And beyond the prints as exemplars of processes, many of them are truly precious, worthy of framing and hanging. A delicate cyanotype by @Patrick Robert James of a bowl and whisk. A kinetic palladium print by @TheFlyingCamera of a carousel. A quiet salt print by @fgorga of a study. I sent out prints. I received art.
If more Photrio members chose to organize or participate in an exchange, I believe it would go a long way toward strengthening the community that @Sean has built here over the years. This may be obvious to others on the site, but it was not to me until this year. There are precious few avenues for having this kind of dialogue and exchange among photographers and printers and artists from around the world. Photrio is one and we are all of us the richer for the opportunity.