Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Jeffrey
Are you printing this work in silver gelatin using an enlarger?
I have seen a few of Vivian's negatives printed in silver on an enlarger and they look correct to the timeline of when she was photographing.
What are your thoughts on the material this work is being printed on?
Bob
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
I was impressed with Vivian Maier's work when it was being discussed several years ago. My opinion was, and still is, that this is excellent work, conveying pathos and humor in equal doses. Add to that a keen sense of composition and skillful use of selective focus, and you have the work of an individual who ranks with the best photographers, past and present, engaged in documentary street photography.
However, a question yet unanswered is, to what extent have her original compositions been altered; have they been cropped? Are we in fact looking at manipulated interpretations of her vision from the results of cropping and printing. Or does it matter? I really enjoy looking at her work.
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Hi Bob and Merg, good questions. My time is presently limited, I am the only one in the office till after the new year. I think it matters greatly to stay as true to the images and times in which they were shot. We do no cropping and all the prints are darkroom silver gelatin. We print in what we think is a straight forward, workmanlike, Chicago blue collar manner, if you will. We feel it best represents the approach that Vivian Maier's would have used. There are not enough good prints to give us the answers to "copy" from. Ron Gordon, one of our two printers, came out of retirement to work on this project. He shot many the same places as Vivian and is of the technical era that holds the commonality to sensibilities that we suspect Vivian Maier would have herself incorporated. Ron doesn't dictate his sensibilities onto the print, he constantly is in a mode of asking himself what would Vivian Maier do or want here? I do feel Ron, being of the age that he is, the experience that he brings, being from the same city Vivian shot in and his sense of questioning along with the personal weight of interpretation he carries allows for crisp, exciting, straight forward, w and cleanly executed prints to be made. Avoiding frills, fussiness, embellishments, all things that we don't associate with the character of Vivian Maier. In a word, a no nonsense approach. The other half of the printing team is Sandy Steinbrecher who brings her own rich and varied experience to the mix. Sandy and Ron have worked together for over 15 years. Substantial discussions take place between the two, both in and out of the dark room. I will see if I can turn them over to your questions. Again, I would enjoy the chance to visit with anyone in NY... signing out, Jeff
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Hi Bob and Merg, good questions. My time is presently limited, I am the only one in the office till after the new year. I think it matters greatly to stay as true to the images and times in which they were shot. We do no cropping and all the prints are darkroom silver gelatin. We print in what we think is a straight forward, workmanlike, Chicago blue collar manner, if you will. We feel it best represents the approach that Vivian Maier's would have used. There are not enough good prints to give us the answers to "copy" from. Ron Gordon, one of our two printers, came out of retirement to work on this project. He shot many the same places as Vivian and is of the technical era that holds the commonality to sensibilities that we suspect Vivian Maier would have herself incorporated. Ron doesn't dictate his sensibilities onto the print, he constantly is in a mode of asking himself what would Vivian Maier do or want here? Of course there is the element of where you can't get away from yourself. I do feel Ron, being of the age that he is, the experience that he brings, being from the same city Vivian shot in and his sense of questioning along with the personal weight of interpretation he feels brings to the table (wall) something crisp and exciting, straight forward, well thought out, and cleanly executed. Avoiding frills, fussiness or embellishments, all things that we don't associate with the character of Vivian Maier. In a word, no nonsense. The other half of the printing team is Sandy Steinbrecher who brings her own rich and varied experience to the mix. Sandy and Ron have worked together for over 15 years. Substantial discussions take place between the two, both in and out of the dark room. I will see if I can turn them over to your questions. I would enjoy the chance to visit with anyone in NY.
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Jeff, I would be happy to reply to any direct questions about the printing. Ron Gordon
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
The prints at the current Howard Greenberg show are silver; at least to my eye, the style of printing did not call attention to itself one way or another.
The Greenberg show also includes some small, vintage prints of or by Maier. A few of them are quite nice. As a group, they look very much as though they were salvaged from shoeboxes.
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Jeff,
Were these prints shown in Chicago earlier this year? The description Oren gives sounds like one exhibit I went to in the spring. I can't remember the gallery name.
The other was the Maloof prints at the Cultural Center, which were ink jet prints.
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chris_4622
Jeff,
Were these prints shown in Chicago earlier this year? The description Oren gives sounds like one exhibit I went to in the spring. I can't remember the gallery name.
The other was the Maloof prints at the Cultural Center, which were ink jet prints.
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Hi Chris, the prints at Kasher are a completely different grouping from what you saw at the Russell Bowman Art Advisory gallery here in Chicago. Those images are posted on both Kasher's site and ours, vivianmaierprints.com. The images previously seen at Bowman's can now be viewed on the Stephen Cohen Gallery, LA. site.
Re: Vivian Maier in NYC until Jan 28th 2012.
Follow-up from today's NY Times Lens
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