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Thread: Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

  1. #11

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    This is an interesting topic. I, like others visiting this forum, have both commercial and personal work. Being now retired from the commercial field, I have recently attempted to deliver my negatives and transparencies to the original clients. This is not possible in every case but it eases my guilt of tossing out something that might be of interest to others. This relates somewhat to Wayne's comment. As an example, a few months ago I delivered about 600 negatives and transparencies to an architect I had done work for in the early 1970's. We were both pleased with the transaction.

    When it comes to my personal work, over 50 years worth, my portfolio is now smaller than it was 20 years ago. I keep only what I consider my best work and have discarded most of the rest. I suppose that there is some risk to self editing but I believe the artist should make these decisions, not the critics, curators, family or friends.

    Along these lines, there are well known photographers, often referenced on this forum, whose reputations would be enhanced had thae destroyed more of their work. Save the best, exhibit the best and destroy the rest.

  2. #12

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    If you don't throw them away yourself it'll be the guy/family cleaning out the house when you have passed on...and they won't be as picky ;-)

    CP Goerz

    PS:Brett Weston burned all but a few negatives of 'historic' value a few weeks before he passed away. I believe he did this as he was so saddened by what happened to the circumstances surrounding his fathers negatives.

  3. #13

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    I am an incredible hardliner on this issue. I throw away all negatives, even the "keepers".

    Though a mediocre photographer with limited vision, the one thing I am good at is judging my own work. I do this within a few days of shooting it. Bad stuff goes immediately in the trash, good stuff gets printed immediately, and then the negative still goes in the trash. (Obviously I am an amateur).

    Everything there is to see in a negative is there the first time you look at it, nothing new will be there 5 years from now. That's my experience, anyways.

    Sure, I make the occasional mistake, but photography is not life/death for me, and like I said, I'm no great shakes: no great loss. In general I'm looking towards the next shot, not so worried about the ones that got away. What I shot 5 years ago is ancient history, not something I want to print today.

    I never shoot people; maybe that helps keep me from getting sentimental about old images.

  4. #14
    Eric Woodbury
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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    I remember when Brett W burned his negs, but I'm not so sure it isn't photo-urban folklore. I have heard since from other Carmel photogs that it was just a show to achieve the results he got and that any negs of value were not burned.
    my picture blog
    ejwoodbury.blogspot.com

  5. #15

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    As to Brett Weston burning his negatives, he did so on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1991. He used the fireplace at his home in Carmel Valley as the receptacle and, as noted above, some of the negatives survived and are at the CCP in Tucson. For many years Brett had forecast the pyrotechnic event claiming that no one could print his negatives the way he could. I would have to agree.

  6. #16

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    With film it probably depends a lot on whether you're an amateur or pro and on how much you photograph. I keep all my negatives but I'm not a pro and I don't photograph constantly. I have about 20 negative binders full of negatives and contact sheets. It's a fairly common experience for me to not like a particular photograph after I've made a contact sheet, then a few years later see the contact sheet and wonder why I never printed the negative. I've read that the explanation for this is that when we see the proof shortly after making the image we remember what we were trying to accomplish and if we didn't accomplish that we don't make a print. But then a year or two later we forget what it was we failed to accomplish and just look at the proof on its own merits.

    "I am horrified at the tendency of digital photographers to keep adding hard drives to archive an unlimited number of crappy images."

    That may be what pros do since they're perhaps never sure what a client will like or what might get reordered but for the rest of us one of the nicest things about digital photography is the ability to erase the crappy images immediately after they've been made or if not at that time then later when skimming everything in the Photoshop file browser (or "Bridge" as it's now called). It's far easier with digital to keep only the good images than it is with film, especially roll film where to keep one good image on a roll you pretty much have to keep all the bad images on the roll as well.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  7. #17

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    There was an article in the LA Times and a picture of him burning the negs, he did indeed do it.

  8. #18

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    "There was an article in the LA Times and a picture of him burning the negs, he did indeed do it."

    Well yes and no. Everyone knows that Brett Weston burned some of his negatives. He assembled a group of friends to witness the event and as you say there are photographs showing him doing it. However, there remains the question of exactly what it was that he burned. The statements he made years before the event led people to think he would burn all of his negatives. But we know he didn't do that. The question is just what did he burn and what did he keep. I don't know whether anyone knows the answer to that. Maybe someone has read statements from people who've seen the full archives, I don't remember seeing anything from anyone who's in a position to know for sure.

    Seems to me you could write a good story about this. "It was a cold and windy night when Brett Weston carefully stoked the fires and, while friends assembled from around the globe shrunk in horror, slowly lifted the first negative from its sleeve and hurled it into the burning flames. Little did his friends know that Weston's good friend Adam Ansel previously made duplicates of all of Weston's negatives . . . . "
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  9. #19

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    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    The burning of negatives on his birthday morning was typical Brett. He did so to make it very clear that no one other than he would print from his negatives. He only burned a few that morning but the point was made. Later that day I attended his party in Carmel Valley and Cole had with him the negatives that would end up at the CCP. They had been hole punched and in the group I saw were some of Brett's most well known images. He died 14 months later and my guess is that the rest of his negatives were destroyed during that period without the international press in attendance.

  10. #20

    Editing by woodstove - what do you throw out?

    Several years ago I followed John Shaw's advice to a T and disposed of everything that was not perfect unless it was historical or family. With todays technologies a few things can be done to save a faded transparency or other defects.

    And do not forget that many times a portion of a 4x5 transparency is still bigger that many formats and may be worthy of a print. Editing may save a mistake or poor transparency.

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