Yes I made that orginal statement. Yes I have seen a whole lot of his prints up close and personal. Yes I know the people who work for him. Yes I have heard the sales hype his gallery manager tells people. Yes I have read his comments. Problem is in this small area of the world, we are a even smaller community of photographers. Another problem is people here tend to talk in this small community. So you have the people who work for him telling me first hand what happens behind his darkroom/lightroom doors. I had one bring me one of the reject prints that was inkjet printed. Let me say right here that I could care less how he produces his images, so long as there is truth behind it. Call it what it is. Is there some reason that it has to be hype manipulated to sell it as well?
One lady who lives here took one of his classes. She was so proud of what she learned in it, and one of his people taught her how to print it out on a printer. Those same prints are hanging at a local Arby's on Hwy 9 and I-15 interchange. When I first moved here they looked ok color wise. Now they look horrible with the colors having faded quite a bit. Yet she claims they are made with the same inks that Fataili uses. I hope the unsuspecting that paid big bucks for a traditional darkroom print who do not know the difference if they unframed it, have better luck with the color fading.
Is honesty such a far fetched concept? Be proud of what you produce no matter the medium used. It is an extension of you.
BTW I saw Bob Carnie's prints from his Elevator gallery on the new Ilford paper where a digtal enlarger (can't remember the name of the darn machine) was used on the paper to then be processed in the wet darkroom. They were stunning. I even have one negative that is a PIA to print that I'm considering having Bob print via this technology for me. I would be upfront about how it was produced. After all I'm even saying it in this worldwide forum right now.
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