Originally Posted by
Chad Jarvis
Part of the problem with these types of arguments is that they are over philosophy. Arguing a philosophy is akin to debating why one's favorite color is the best. Of course making a gross generalization that "all platinum prints are flat" or "azure is the best color" is simply wrong, but stating
is an opinion, perhaps even a philosophy worthy of consideration.
That said, I'm going to throw my two cents in. I have seen A LOT of flat Pt/Pd prints, many of which are my own, and I am still mystified at the reverence given Stieglitz' (or for that matter, Weston's) platinum prints, when, frankly, they were for the most part pretty lousy. And I don't want anyone to state that the materials at the time were terrible or that the technology was lame or whatever, because Frederick Evans did absolutely STUNNING (by ANY and EVERY MEASURE) work in platinum during the same time period. His prints weren't flat.
Know your materials. Know their capabilities. Know their shortcomings.
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