Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Margaret Bourke-White technique w/16x20 film

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    954

    Margaret Bourke-White technique w/16x20 film

    I just went to a photography exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts. They had a print by Margaret Bourke-White in which she had experimented with a new technique. She "projected" an image onto a 16x20 sheet of film, then contact printed it. According to the description, this created a more "rounded" 3-dimensional look to the work than working with a negative and an enlarger. Does anyone know how she developed and refined this technique? It sounds strange that projecting a film positive onto negative film to create a paper positive would create different results than projecting a film negative onto a paper positive.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Van Buren, Arkansas
    Posts
    1,941

    Re: Margaret Bourke-White technique w/16x20 film

    I am not familiar with her work in this area, but I can comment. The act of projecting a small image onto a large sheet of film to make an internegative introduces another lens into the chain, and this projection lens can introduce distortions, softness (lack of sharpness) and other things that may be what she is talking about.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Mount Vernon, Virginia
    Posts
    200

    Re: Margaret Bourke-White technique w/16x20 film

    The 16x20 negative may have allowed her to contact print on papers unsuitable for enlarging purposes?????

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    49

    Re: Margaret Bourke-White technique w/16x20 film

    is there a link to these images?

    I could imagine some unsharp masking during contact printing;
    it is difficult to make an educated guess when one has not
    seen the pictures.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jan 2001
    Posts
    4,589

    Re: Margaret Bourke-White technique w/16x20 film

    It was a common proceedure to get large negatives for contact printing.
    Edward Weston enlarged his Graflex negatives by copying them with his 8x10 camera. The famous Paul Strand images of 1916 were shot with a hand camera (6x9?) and then contact printed onto Platinum after enlarged negatives were made by Projection.
    Wilhelm (Sarasota)

Similar Threads

  1. Film Still Popular Among Pros
    By Michael Kadillak in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 51
    Last Post: 21-Sep-2015, 06:04
  2. New idea?? Inexpensive daylight Softube processing of sheet film
    By Ed Brock in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 31
    Last Post: 10-Jan-2011, 04:02
  3. Depth of Field, Depth of Focus, and Film Flatness
    By steve simmons in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 65
    Last Post: 7-Jan-2006, 19:30
  4. Black and White - BW film or Color??
    By Hugh Sakols in forum Style & Technique
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 21-Jun-2005, 20:44

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •