Like the previously featured Aaron Siskind 100, much of this masterful collection focuses on the abstract … but in a different way. Here we are mostly observing elements of whitewashed architectural structures of the Mediterranean Greek Islands, and the empty spaces around them formed by sky or deep shadows.
Bond is a well-known Black and White large format photographer whose images are held by many museums in the US and abroad. He contributed numerous articles to Photo Techniques magazine over the years and taught well-regarded workshops for over three decades. During the Eighties he made several trips to the Cyclades. In his preface Bond states that he “wanted to construct images by manipulating shapes on the groundglass, using the view camera adjustments”. The result is this exquisite book containing 42 beautiful images!
While Bond’s technique here is highly manipulative – he used strong filters on his lenses, printed with high contrast, increased negative and print development times, and even intensified his negative with selenium toner when necessary – the results justify the measures taken. He had a vision he wished to express and he succeeded. In this case, I believe to do otherwise would have yielded strong compositions containing little emotion. So Bond achieved his objective masterfully, and this wonderful book is a fine example of how a successful project can be accomplished over a period of time. Also included is a complete explanation of how each of the photographs were made, developed and printed. Most useful!
I think this a special book that deserves to be in your library. I feel very lucky to own a signed copy for myself!
He definitely did have quite a few articles in PHOTO Techniques magazine, Honestly I have never read the magazine myself, though I’ve seen reference to it on more than one occasion now – and actually saw some old ones ‘stacked’ at the Glen Echo Photoworks studio in DC just yesterday. I’ll have to check my library for some historical articles. I just recently saw a couple of his recently here[1].
I’m searching for his “Unsharp Mask” technique which I’ve found a few references to, in both ebay auctions for pin register systems [2] and other articles [3], e.g.
“I began making unsharp masks for many of my photographs after reading Howard Bond’s series of masking articles in PT [March/April 2001, and Special Issue #11, Mastering the B&W Fine Print]”
I often feel the “expertise” of the darkroom has long peaked and is fading into the distance, while the latest Photoshop techniques now get all the publicity and attention. I hope some of these old tools, tactics techniques procedures (TTPs) and the end results are not lost on the digital world.
[1] http://phototechmag.com/author/howard-bond/
[2] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pin-Registration-system-for-Beseler-4×5-enlarger-/282016191476
[3] http://www.paulwainwrightphotography.com/biblio_files/unsharp_masking.pdf
Brian,
Good to hear from you again! When I lived in the DC area I took a workshop at Glenn Echo with Frank Van Riper. Beautiful place. I also made some photographs on the grounds that I enjoy very much.
Bond’s technical skills are clear and my understanding is that as time went on he used unsharp masks with his large format negatives for improved results. I can’t say that I have ever tried this technique myself but many large format users have worked with it to great effect.
Compared to the time before the digital onslaught, there are certainly less darkroom workers, but things have been turning around as is the case with the realization that listening to vinyl LPs is a better experience than suffering with digital CDs (I am a vinyl guy and don’t own a CD player!). As I say in my mission statement “my objective is to create a home for those who love black and white film photography and the black and white silver gelatin prints made from film – for those already using film cameras and working in darkrooms, but more importantly, for those that have yet to give these wonderful mediums a try”.
There are many great black and white darkroom practitioners out there today such as Howard Bond, John Sexton, Bruce Barnbaum, and Michael Smith just to name a few. Many workshops are available that focus on darkroom techniques and I hope to offer my own in the not to distant future. While Kodak stopped making paper, there are a huge amount of choices for papers and chemicals. Darkroom equipment is plentiful with some still being made and much more available on the used market for great prices.
Interesting enough, one of the groups helping to keep black and white film photography alive is young people, and my guess is that many will give the darkroom a try if made aware of the possibilities. I certainly hope to encourage that! So I don’t think that darkroom expertise has peaked. It is out there. More people just need to be exposed to it. I hope to do that here.
Best,
Michael
Actually the exhibition I went down to Glen Echo to see last weekend was curated by Frank Van Riper!
http://daily.lenswork.com/2016/04/alumni-news-frank-van-riper.html
Brian,
Thanks for letting me know. Frank is a really good guy and a great photographer! Stay in touch!!
Best,
Michael