Well, considering how much we've all contributed to Robert Adams' financial well-being, he pretty much owes us a private video chat in which he could answer all our questions regarding paper choices (and a few of mine about film development).
it sounds like a rougher surface than what is usually used for photo books
I've been going back and forth between Eden and American Silence, and Eden's paper is indeed slightly rougher. It's almost as if it adds grain to the photographs, which becomes mostly distracting in the sky, when open and pure, adding an unnecessary texture and graininess to it. I see a little bit of that in American Silence, but not as much. They skies in American Silence have tone, depth, and a touch of texture, but all these are even, which is not the case with Eden, which almost looks as if there has been a touch mottling on the film itself (see plates III and IX, for those who have it).
I remember reading an interview in which Adams stated that his personal film-developing technique was devised in order to get the most even sky as possible, so I'm surprised Eden's printing works for him.
Eden, which almost looks as if there has been a touch mottling on the film itself (see plates III and IX, for those who have it).
I went through the same exercise and came to the same conclusion. There's definitely more grain visible in the skies in Eden. I don't find it too distracting but it's definitely there.
There's an article in American Suburban X that talks about the recent Steidl re-releases of Adams' books and the author briefly talks about the paper used in Eden:
Well, considering how much we've all contributed to Robert Adams' financial well-being, he pretty much owes us a private video chat in which he could answer all our questions regarding paper choices (and a few of mine about film development).
Does anyone happen to have a copy of Danny Lyon's Memories of Myself published by Phaidon and care to comment on whether or not it's worth buying? I love Lyon's work and have a few of his books, but this one has piqued my interest and I can't seem to find a flip-through or review of it online. It's a bit expensive on the used market so I'd prefer to see it or at least hear a bit about it before I purchase it.
Extraordinary book. It's a collection of short photographic essays. Goes from Columbian prostitutes to demolition derbys to Haiti in the mid-80s to people in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Galveston, Texas, in the late 60s. In terms of mastering the genre of the photographic essay, Lyon is the true heir of W. Eugene Smith. And few people have a way of photographing people as he does.
I really like this book. A good complement to Message to the Future, which, as catalog, is more an overview of his whole career.
On the Danny Lyon topic; which version of Bikeriders should I source? (I know, why the heck do I not already have one?) There's also 2 versions of The Destruction of Lower Manhattan. If anyone has an opinion regarding those.
On another note, I just learned from Amazon that Steidl's New Topographics reissue has been pushed back again, this time to late June.
On another note, I just learned from Amazon that Steidl's New Topographics reissue has been pushed back again, this time to late June.
Wait a minute....Is it being reprinted!? I knew nothing!
I was doing some more "new topographics" research and I found this.
Got hold of a fantastic book today. Titled American Images, it was edited by Renato Danese and published in 1979 by McGraw-Hill. It features works by then young photographers Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Harry Callahan, William Clift, Linda Connor, Bevan Davies, Roy DeCarava, William Eggleston, Larry Fink, Elliott Erwitt, Frank Gohlke, John Gossage, Jonathan Green, Jan Groover, Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerowitz, Richard Misrach, Nicholas Nixon, Tod Papageorge and Stephen Shore.
Idea behing the book (and the exhibition that accompanied it) is interesting. From Danese's preface:
In early 1977, I was invited by representatives of the Bell System to assist them in designing and implementing a project in photography. After several months of discussion about the exact form such a project might take, we settled upon a program consisting of three major components—commissions to twenty contemporary American photographers to produce new work; an exhibition of those photographs, which will be presented in museums throughout the country; and the publication of this book, which reproduces 160 of the 300 photographs created under the program.
One of the most exciting aspects of the undertaking was the commissioning of new photographs not predetermined or restricted in theme or content. The photographers themselves selected their subject matter, adhering only to the provision that all photographs were to be taken in the United States.
Interesting to note that there are five photographers that were also featured in the "New Topographics" exhibition of 1975. All of Nixon's photographs, however, are portraits. Interestingly enough, all of Eggleston's photos are landscape.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?