Christopher Burkett Interview on PBS

[Pere Casals]

Actually I think that he is using the wrong camera. If you look carefully you will notice a slight up and down camera movement when the camera is nudged.

Thomas, I don't think... The C1 is perfectly steady. Yousuf Karsh used one for 3 decades.

That movement you say comes from tripod head, I guess, because front and rear moves like pivoting.

I feel the C1 is legendary gear, and a sign of distinction. For 45/57 I like more the Norma, but for 810 IMHO the C1 is not a bad idea at all.

A long carreer photographer sporting an APO Tele-Xenar 800/12 and a ton of cibachrome boxes is suposed to have a refined criterion for selecting gear

Anyway IMHO the camera is the irrelevant factor for the quality of his extraordinary work, again in this case the man is what counts.

Making contrast masks while burning/dodging amazing ciba monster prints from 810 Velvia/Provia is not that common today...

[Pere Casals]

Actually I think that he is using the wrong camera. If you look carefully you will notice a slight up and down camera movement when the camera is nudged.

Thomas, the C1 is said to be perfectly steady. Yousuf Karsh used one for 3 decades (usually with shorter focals, 14", but giving bellows draw for near subject).

That movement you say comes from tripod head, I guess, because front and rear move like pivotating.

I feel the C1 is legendary gear, and a sign of distinction. For 45/57 I like more the Norma, but for 810 IMHO the C1 is not a bad idea at all, I use an SC 810, not very refined but very sturdy, this is instead a dutch product, but similar minding.

A long carreer photographer sporting an APO Tele-Xenar 800/12 and a ton of cibachrome boxes is suposed to have a refined criterion for selecting gear

Anyway IMHO the camera is the irrelevant factor for the quality of his extraordinary work, again in this case the man is what counts.

Making contrast masks while burning/dodging amazing ciba monster prints from 810 Velvia/Provia is not that common today...

The C1 looks well reinforced, perhaps a bit heavy for the field... but the geared front rise should be convenient with a heavy lens...

[chris_4622]

Thanks for posting this Chuck.

[johnmsanderson]

Long time fan of Burkett. Going to see his show in NYC at Ingbar Gallery soon -- I wouldn't miss it. His Cibas are jaw dropping! So refreshing after seeing all (well, 95%) of the soulless stuff at AiPad.

[brouwerkent]

Hey folks

I seriously have to wonder about value of the work of Burkett. His photographs strike me as well done picture postcards of minimal value artistically. To my knowledge, museums have no interest in his work..but commercial galleries offer his work...presumably since they sell. There is no accounting for taste. I was recently in Carmel California for a few lovely days at the beach and some very overpriced meals...and I was amazed at the amount of glitzy overpriced artwork of little intellectual value..apparently these picture postcards (whether they be photographs or paintings) appeal to the masses. Like I say...no accounting for taste. And of course I understand the masses disagree with me. I want to be challenged intellectually...I see little compelling intellectually in Mr. Burkett's work.

Thomas Kincaid is a painter of similar glitzy formula....he marketed his paintings to a mass audience as a gift from God. Kincaid actually sells his paintings with Biblical Scriptures assigned to each. Kincaid was publically traded on the stock market for a bit. Kincaid IMHO will have no staying power or historical value. Do any of you remember Keane...the painter of children with the big forlorn eyes??? They were hugely popular in the 60s...major commercial success at the time..but clearly they had no staying power. I believe the work of Kincaid and Burkett are both destined for the same shallow grave.

While I suspect Burkett is a lovely individual...I enjoyed his history and the video...I do not find his work memorable or thought provoking....just pretty.

As a contrast, I for one find Walker Evans and his progeny of immense intellectual depth and long lasting merit. Walker Evans and many who followed his lead will always have a place in museums because of their social and historical value. I think Nancy Newhall said something along these lines...ie...why do male photographers feel compelled to photograph trees??? I truly have to question the merit of any artwork that is largely commercial in intent...other than that...it's commercial value at the time. This criticism of pretty pictures could also easily be applied to a majority of Ansel Adams work... No doubt Adams made a few really remarkable photographs...and I have no doubt that Burkett has made a few really remarkable photographs. But when viewed in mass...I personally find both Burkett and Adams quite boring.

I do not see a lot of work currently that I find intellectually compelling. I would challenge my fellow photographers to address social, environmental and economic issues with their art. From my perspective, a successful photograph should have layers of meanings...no only technically well done...but well seen and conceived...with layers of meaning that challenge the viewer to revisit over and over again...like a great novel or a great piece of music. Great work should challenge the viewer. Given the times, I happen to think pretty postcards do not have much merit in a world that is so challenged. I am deeply concerned about our planet and while I appreciate beautiful renditions of trees and water...they lack any lasting impact in my opinion.

Sorry for my rant...but I had to get this off my chest.

Cheers

Phil

[Peter De Smidt]

How about the value in showing us something that should be cherished? Affirming the positive is just as valuable as pointing out flaws.

[Pere Casals]

I seriously have to wonder about value of the work of Burkett. His photographs strike me as well done picture postcards of minimal value artistically. To my knowledge, museums have no interest in his work..

Fitrst is that art is subjective, second is that museums never had a good criterion to purchase art until it becomes very expensive, see Vincent Willem van Gogh.

From technical perspective Burkett's production IMHO has two trends:

> Technical excellence, coming from a Velvia/Provia 8x10 source these are shots containing some 600Mpix equivalent, today we can obtain that by stitching in Ps, but this is not the same. And then add Cibachrome on it...

> Not industrial reprography, each print is unique, the hand of the artist can be seen in each print.

So we are speaking about the most refinated imaging process we can think today combined with handcrafting and fanatic perfectionism, this is a value for galeries...


From the art perspective Burkett's production IMHO has also two trends I'd mention:

> This is fineart photography, not street or abstract, it's fienart, here the message "can be" in the depiction of details and the vision that we overlook in our daily routine. All of we often see peppers in the kitchen and we handle that, but Weston's peppers were showing beautilful textures and volumes we had in our hands but we were not aware at all.

> Authenticity. No Ps, no silicon, no pixel. Just the photons than came from subject left a footprint in the emulsion. And a second photon that passed the slide arrived to the ciba medium.


So IMHO it's about telling to the viewer that world has a beauty we overlook, that beauty can be ephimeral like a flower or had been there for centuries. We can say this is a way to discover self awareness, perhaps looking at the world from a "noetics" way. Of course you can read the message or not, and like it that or not.


What I say is that galleries often see value before museums do.

[Tin Can]

I agree Pere.

Good points.

[Pere Casals]

Thanks Randy, anyway prasing Burkett's work it's not challenging...

[Tin Can]

As a full-time photo hobbyist, I take umbrage at your comment.