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  #31  
Old 8th January 2021, 08:15 PM
mpirie mpirie is offline
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I'm fortunate enough to have seen John Sexton's prints at an exhibition of his and they are stunning! I'm not too macho to admit i had tears in my eyes looking at them....it was like you could walk right into them.

If I had the chance to spend a day with a photographer, it'd be either Ansel Adams, John Sexton, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Michael Kenna or Bob Carlos Clarke in that order, or ideally all of them :-)

Mike
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  #32  
Old 8th January 2021, 10:20 PM
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skellum skellum is offline
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Hi Mike,
There was an exhibition of Adams' work in Edinburgh in 2008 (I just checked, and can't believe how long ago it was). It was fascinating to see the evolution of his style. Some early prints are quite small, and surprisingly 'soft' in terms of contrast. There are even a few soft-focus images.
Later the prints become bolder, grander, filled with crisp detail. I seem to recall a pair of prints from the same negative showing how his style changed. More contrast, more use of deep blacks.
Seeing real prints, and getting a sense of what can be achieved in the darkroom is something many newcomers are missing. Gone are the days of camera club competition nights where folk rolled out their best work.
Viewing online scans of prints, or negatives, is just not the same.
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  #33  
Old 9th January 2021, 08:58 AM
mpirie mpirie is offline
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Hi Gary,

I've seen a couple of exhibitions of Adams work and agree, some of them were small and lacking contrast. I put it down to poor lighting (presumably to avoid fading) at the exhibition centre.

The second exhibition included work by Adams and other West Coast photographers like Weston(s), White, Bullock and Maer.....that was a much better display.

The upside to seeing the real prints is to give you an idea of what can be done. The downside is the realisation that few of us will attain those levels of artistic or technical capabilities.

Mike
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  #34  
Old 9th January 2021, 01:09 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skellum View Post
Hi Mike,
There was an exhibition of Adams' work in Edinburgh in 2008 (I just checked, and can't believe how long ago it was). It was fascinating to see the evolution of his style. Some early prints are quite small, and surprisingly 'soft' in terms of contrast. There are even a few soft-focus images.
Later the prints become bolder, grander, filled with crisp detail... Viewing online scans of prints, or negatives, is just not the same.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpirie View Post
I've seen a couple of exhibitions of Adams work and agree, some of them were small and lacking contrast. I put it down to poor lighting (presumably to avoid fading) at the exhibition centre.
Mike
To be honest, although I admire AA's taking and printing skills, his work has never done a lot for me. As for exhibitions, I went to one of his, during a trip to San Francisco, a number of years ago now.

Like previously mentioned, I now realise that it must have been of just his early work, for I too felt the prints to be lacking totally in any contrast and were very grey all over. The exhibition lighting was fine btw and the prints were small, but neither of these bothered me.

I prefer his later and more well known work, which is totally different, even if I'm not a fan. I'm sure in books, there must be a mixture of both periods of AA's work, and if so, it would show how a photographers style and experience can change over time.

And I totally agree with Skellum's post. Very rarely, when viewing prints and scans online, does the computer screen show the work to it's best. It's actually an often used comment in the print exchange rounds, for no, they are rarely ever as good as the print in the hand of the recipient, which is a shame.

Terry S
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  #35  
Old 9th January 2021, 06:25 PM
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PanFrank PanFrank is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S View Post
T
And I totally agree with Skellum's post. Very rarely, when viewing prints and scans online, does the computer screen show the work to it's best. It's actually an often used comment in the print exchange rounds, for no, they are rarely ever as good as the print in the hand of the recipient, which is a shame.Terry S
Nothing to be done about. Therefore I am so glad that we have the print exchange. Learned a lot more about different paper, contrast etc. in a few months than viewing examples online for years before joining.
Frank
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  #36  
Old 10th January 2021, 01:33 PM
Quendil Quendil is offline
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Unfortunately since coming back to film photography I haven't had the chance to see any exhibitions or look at many photo books. Hopefully once the current situation comes to an end I will be able to borrow some from the library and will be asking for recommendations.

I did however borrow one by Don McCullin In England which I found inspiring. I also recently watched a documentary on Vivian Maier which I really enjoyed. For modern photographers I do like the work by Jess Hobbs.

David
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  #37  
Old 10th January 2021, 05:45 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Hi Colin, years ago there used to be Magnum videos on their website but it appears, no more?
I remember watching the Paul Fusco film about the Chernobyl legacy and found it haunting. I found a copy on youtube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AC581EeIMKg
I've just watched this video and it is so, so sad....

But it is important that it's out there and should be watched, to hopefully avoid another disaster like this.

Terry S
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