The Tactility of Prints
Otherworld 007 – scan from silver print
Otherworld was also a finalist for the Photolucida/Critical Mass award, for which I am once again so grateful. These last several weeks have been very rewarding, thanks to Klompching Gallery and Rfotofolio too. The entire project is one that I’ve been really happy with right from the start, but unfortunately, as soon as I felt ready to exhibit some of the images we hit the start of the pandemic, so any ideas for further exhibitions were put on hold.
They’re printed in silver-gelatin, which gives rise to questions about the images and how they’re printed exactly, because they are neither glossy nor matte prints, and they are not toned. The tactile quality of a print is so important to me. This all adds to the mystery of the images, but uploading and submitting digital files of them for grant proposals and exhibition call for entries is frustrating, knowing, just as with platinum prints or polymer photogravures, that on an uncalibrated monitor or screen they’ll likely lose detail and much of those qualities that I feel make them special. A lot of work goes into scanning and making the image files look as close to the original prints as possible, so for this work to have been received as well as it has, without seeing the original silver prints, is really rewarding.
Yesterday I received an email that included many of the comments made by the jurors, but this one jumped out at me. They compare my prints to etchings, which is what it’s all about, and this comment alone made all the hard work of scanning and editing the files worth while! Thank you!
“Interesting work. Related to the rare work of French engraver (etchings) of Georges Rubel…hard to find material, even online. A world either pre-humanity or post-apocalyptic.”
— Critical Mass juror
