Here is something to enjoy on a quiet Sunday afternoon and to get inspired again:

"Portrait of Nature by photographer Nobuyuki Kobyashi". 

See the documentary video on Vimeo. 

(source: http://vimeo.com/91495217)

Philosophical quotes from the beginning of Photography ... (1839 - 1900)

Every now and then there is a discussion about "art and photography" on one of the APUG forums. Sometimes interesting, sometimes only dogmatic opinions without an open eye or ear for anything outside ones "thinking window". 
 I never want to take part in such a discussion since there will never be a winner. I would rather sit down, having a nice coffee together, and really talk about what's on your mind or heart ...

 I was thinking of these never ending discussions (even fights?), that seem to be almost 175 years old, when reading this book:
"A new art: photography in the 19th century - the photo collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam" (Netherlands), Vol. I, published in 1996. A beautiful book with very nice prints of photographs from 1839 - 1900.

 (ISBN: 90-5349-193-7, Dutch title: "Een nieuwe kunst: fotografie in de 19de eeuw")

 There were two nice quotes I would like to share with a smile:

 The first quote was published in 1839 in an art magazine in The Netherlands, called: "Algemeene Konst- en Letterbode", discussing this new phenomenon - photography:
 "The new art of generating Drawings by Sunlight (Photography)" (taken from the preface of the book)

 For this second quote, I copied also a small part of the text as an introduction (bare with me):
 "During the second half of of the nineteenth century it was not uncommon for Dutch artists to work after photographs. However, this practice was not usually spoken of in private, let alone discussed openly in print,for photography was all too often seen as "unartistic". This is clear from the results of a survey carried out in 1900 among a group of artists. The response was limited, and there was only one artist who had anything positive to say about the artisticity of the photographic of the photographic technique. That man was Philippe Zilcken (1857-1930) of The Hague: painter etcher, and writer on art. 
 "For me photography is most certainly an art, for the qualities which raise a work to the level of art, i.e., personal opinion, choice, taste, emotion together with knowledge - are all indispensible (= indispensable??) in the creation of a beautiful photograph. The camera is a machine, but the passion and sensitivity of the photographer are capable of influencing the mechanical process. In this way a seemingly impersonal technique can contribute to the creation of a true work of art." (taken from page 256-257) 

 This statement from Zilcken reminds me of my personal motto, taken from a quote of Ansel Adams:
 " ... avoiding the common illusion, that creativity depends on equipment alone ... " (from Adams book: The Camera).

 I'm not trying to start a new old discussion here (please don't), but if you know an other striking or interesting remark from the old days (from before the 1930's) you're welcome to share it here. And if you would like a nice coffee with it, give me a call ;-)


BTW:
I was reading this book while listening (among others) to: "Agnus Dei" (Dunedin Consort), "Fifth of Firth" (Genesis), "Bombay Calling" (It's A Beautiful Day), "A Brother's Prayer" (The Holmes Brothers), "Koyaanisqatsi" (Philip Glass) and "Erbarme Dich" (from the St. Matthew Passion (Bach), Dunedin Consort).
 All very different, but all art (to me).

What is your favorite or most influential photography book?

I was asked this question in a Linkedin phtotography group. This is my answer:

1) The Ansel Adams trilogy: The Negative, The Camera & The Print. (Even if you only use a digital camera, read these books!) 

(the three books by Ansel Adams)

2) Domestic Landscapes by Bert Teunissen.

(book cover of Domestic Landscapes)

See: www.bertteunissen.com for his beautiful series of images from all over Europe: 

(photo: Beuningen # 1 - by Bert Teunissen)

I saw his pictures in a museum in Amsterdam in 2007 and bought the book.
It inspired me to make a "domestic landscape" portrait of my parents and it's the best portrait I have of them.

3) Barry Thornton - Edge of Darkness. I haven't read this book yet, but it is in the mail to me from the UK right now.
I've heard a lot about Barry Thornton and I'm looking forward to reading his book myself.

(book cover of Edge of Darkness)

4) William Crawford - The Keepers Of Light. This is the "standard work" about alternate early photographic processes, like cyanotype, carbon printing, gum printing, bromoil, Van Dyke Brown, salt printing, albuminen, etc.

(book cover of The Keepers Of Light)

Carbon Printing - a beautiful and old photographic technique from the 19th century

I followed a course in carbon printing in Middelburg, The Netherlands at Polychrome (Kees Brandenburg).

Carbon printing is an old photographic procedure, in which carbon black (lamp black) was used for making black & white prints. This technique is (probably) developed by Alphonse Poitevin in 1855. This technique was adapted in 1868 by Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron into color printing with pigments. These techniques were commonly used well into the middle of the 20th century. 

(carbon print by Mark Sink, "The Great Sand Dunes #7")

Carbon printing is - besides gum printing - one of the most durable and lasting printing techniques. The carbon prints will stand out as if they were made yesterday among all kinds of prints from the 19th century available in foto archives.

How does carbon printing work? A sheet of paper is coated with a layer of pigmented gelatin. When the paper has dried it is made sensitive to light with dichromate (applied with a brush). After the paper has dried again, it can be exposed by contact printing with a negative. The exposed paper is then put under water and it makes contact with an other sheet of paper: the final carrier of the image. Some light pressure is applied to this sandwich for some time. When removing the sandwich from the water, keep the sandwich together and wash it gently in warm water. The original sheet of paper will come lose from the pigmented layer: it is now transferred to the new sheet of paper. This sheet with the image is now washed with cold water and will harden.

This technique is still taught in The Netherlands in Middelburg by Kees Brandenburg. 

There is an english forum about carbon printing.
A free english handbook (100 pages) can be downloaded here: www.carbonprinting.com.

(Pitch and Toss - carbon print by Albert Octavus Knoblauch from 1909)

Interesting links:

• Polychrome (Kees Brandenburg)
• workshop carbon printing in KM 70 from Kees Brandenburg (dutch language)
• carbon printing on wikipedia (carbon print)
• Alternative Photography (english website)
• english article from Sandy King on unblinkingeye.com
• example of modern use of “color carbon printing”
• historical processes forum (bostick & sullivan)
• The Carbon Works (website)

(carbon print from 1878 made by Thomas Annan)

Making dry plate glass negatives with a LF camera

I followed a course in making dry plate negatives (on glass plates) yesterday given by Dutch photographer Norman Post. It's a very nice and old technique.
I made these 2 portraits with this technique:

- Iso = 1 (yes: only one!)
- Exposure time = 1 second
- Apperture = f /4.5
- location = outdoors in the shade.

I used an old Russian large format camera: FKD 13x18 (almost 5x7") with an Industar 215 mm lens and an Industar 300 mm lens.

I'm gonna use this technique with my own FKD 18x24 cm LF camera (almost 8x10") and with my self build wooden pinhole cameras. These glass plate negatives are perfect for contact printing (like cyanotype or gum printing).

See flick.com for my images.

See some of the portraits made by Norman Post (scanned from dry plate negatives).

(photo made by Norman Post)

Check the Pinhole Photography & Cameras Group on LinkedIn for more info on pinhole cameras.