Yesterday I went online to witness a wondrous happening on YouTube. A top notch National Geographic photographer was demonstrating how he printed an entire exhibition of large prints. It only took an afternoon! To be fair he was working with superb scans made from his superb photographs on an awesome Epson printer. He could replicate those same prints with the same quality just by pushing a button!
I thought about working in my darkroom, printing from an excellent negative, and ending the day’s work with only one print that I would call “magic.” Of course the other keeper prints would be excellent as well, but the “magic” one is the one that works best for me. Often others disagree and choose another print from the same session – it’s “magic” for them, It’s a very personal choice.
I am printing less these days and only from negatives that I previously chose but never had time to print. Thinking about the magic of the digital age – just press the button – it’s a different kind of magic, and it’s a long way from my reality still.
In the coming months I will post some of these magic prints right here for you to see and collect if you are so inclined. As usual they will be available from me or any of my wonderful dealers… george