Something happened with this last print test, a sort of arrival. So I thought I’d expound on something I’ve never really articulated out loud. Years ago, Marsha Burns, a mentor, commented that I seem to be invisible in the work, evidence of my intention, or identity, seemed to have dissolved undetectable into the prints. Part of me liked that comment, part of me was mystified by it, what impulse leads me to want to disappear? Ego supression? Of course I do tend to distrust overt proclamation of the artist’s identity into the work.

Over the years I’ve regularly avoided traditional dramatic contrast in B&W work, overly stylistic tonality (enforced high key, low key, contrast, etc..) anything that obscures the scenario before the camera, etc etc.. Although, I am regularly accused of injecting a light or middle tone look into my editing, that may be a tonality I’m subconsciously drawn to, but I want everything easily revealed, the feeling of the light and air maintained, the significant presence in the world clear, not interpreted. So the scenes tend to be undramatic by conventional standards, the prints quiet.

This has lead me to embrace print sensibilities the don’t pull tones apart, don’t overtly celebrate extensive dynamic range, and I easily moved from alternative processes, to subtle silver prints, to matte surface long scale Piezography printing, and now to uncoated papers, searching for a “presence” that doesn’t rely on tonal drama.

A few weeks ago some friends gathered at Prints On Paper Studio, my old friend Walker’s endeavour with Nathanael Kooperkamp. Nathanael handed me a beautiful hand made sheet to play with, from Atelier de Papier. I had enough to setup a custom K7 Piezography inkset, linearize, and try a print. Beautiful subtle hand made texture, unintrusive, no “pretty” base hue, no “pretty” ink hue, warmish neutral, no splits, reasonable but unremarkable dmax that doesn’t call attention to “impressive” blacks. Very natural presentation of every continuous tone, everything revealed. Nothing more overtly remarkable than a pencil sketch. A kind of epitome of all the values expressed above.

If anything beyond our corneas turns our attention to the possibility of significance in the world, beautiful or otherwise, it can do so on it’s own, without my help or tinkering. That a rectangle was selected out of it all seems intrusion enough. Whether or not that results in anything with any artistic gravitas is not for me to judge.

Perhaps Peter Henry Emerson would like it, I may change my mind tomorrow and see it as boring!