As we get further into the Covid-19 crisis, it’s absolutely clear to me that the most important thing we have are our relationships with our family and friends.  It goes without saying that maintaining our economic wellbeing and everything that goes along is essential, but what will sustain us emotionally in the days, week and perhaps months ahead are these indispensable relationships we have.  Even if the Monalog Collective I have been working to establish did not succeed for some strange reason (That won’t happen!!), the friendships I’ve established because of it will remain. And that matters more than anything. Then there are the members of my Photo Chat group that get together on a Sunday morning for coffee and to show prints, the students I’ve taught, the photographers I have met through workshops, events or get-togethers like Photo Arts Xchange, and finally, the photographers I’ve communicated with and met because of this humble website. None of these friendships can be taken away, whatever happens going forward.

As the virus progresses, I will work to maintain and grow these relationships. Next to the relationship I have with my family, these friendships will be one of the most important things that gets me through this.

In short, I am grateful for all the friends I have made in photography and for all that you have contributed to make my life better. And I am certain those contributions will continue throughout this trying time.

I urge you all to stay safe, and think about the relationships you have made through photography.  Reach out to your fellow photographers and stay in touch, now more then ever. You will be glad you did, and so will they.

Best wishes,

Michael

A couple of weeks ago I needed to go up to New York on business, so I decided while I was there I would make the most of it by visiting the Dorothea Lange exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. What was most interesting about the show was having the words that accompanied her photographs in newspapers, magazines, government reports, books and exhibitions presented alongside the black and white silver gelatin images themselves.

All the iconic pictures we know were present, including those capturing the pain and despair of Great Depression – White Angel, Breadline, San Francisco; Migrant Mother; and Woman of the High Plains, Texas Panhandle.  There were also environmental portraits, candid photographs, photographs of farmhouses and barns, urban architecture, roadside signs, and the lonely road and those traveling it. The Road West, New Mexico particularly struck me.

While many of the images and accompanying words were from her time photographing for US government Farm Security Administration, there was more. Other work funded by the government not only captured the impact of WWII on average Americans, but interestingly also depicted racism towards Japanese Americans during the war. This work is particularly relevant in today’s environment.  There also was great work from the famous 1955 Family of Man exhibit, other Fifties work done for magazines including important photographs depicting the state of Black life in America, some surprising intimate landscapes also done in the Fifties, family photographs made in the 1960s.

Although my guess is that Lange is mainly known for her Depression era work, she could really do it all and clearly did not want to limit herself to a particular genre. We can all certainly take a page from her wonderful body of work and not limit ourselves to the all the creative photographic opportunities that exist for us if we are only open to them.

Truly a wonderful show and highly recommended!  The exhibit runs through May 9^th, 2020.

After I attended the last year’s Photo Arts Xchange I started to think about what I could do to further support a vibrant black and white analog photography community. I already had my own website that focuses on my love of black and white film photography and the darkroom, but I wanted to do more, and I sensed that there would be others that shared my passion and felt the same way.

At the Photo Arts Xchange I met a number of outstanding photographers that worked exclusively with black and white film and used only traditional wet processes to realize their exceptional vision. I decided to reach out to them and other like minded photographers I knew that I thought would be receptive to the idea of creating a photographer’s collective who’s sole mission would be to “support black and white film photography and traditional printing processes”.

Now after months of discussion and hard work we are ready to make our efforts known. We have chosen to call our collective Monalog™, a new word derived from “monochrome” and “analog”.  We chose this because we don’t make color prints or incorporate anything digital in what we do … no scanning of negatives, no creation of “negatives” from digital files, and no digital printing of film negatives.  This having been said, our objective is not to make judgments about color or digital, but support what we use and care deeply about.

The founders of this collective make silver gelatin enlargements, contact prints on Lodima and Azo paper, platimum and albumen prints and prints using carbon transfer processes. They use 35mm and medium format rangefinders, medium format SLRs, and a range of wooden view cameras that produce images using 4×5, 8×10, 11×14, 8×20 or 14×17 inch negatives.  We all used different tools, films, chemistry and papers to create our art, but we share a love and unabiding commitment to black and white film and traditional printing processes.

Monalog was formed by six founding members: Mel Evans, Jim Fitzgerald, David Haas, Jim Kipfer, Michael Marks and Drew Wagner.  Our goal is to grow through membership of fellow “monalog” photographers that are dedicated to this wonderful medium and exhibit a high caliber of vision and adherence to their craft. We will also engage with others, individually and through collaborative activity, and support the industry that makes all this possible.

There is no other photographer’s collective like Monalog.

So please check out the Monalog Collective at www.monalogcollective.com. There you will find member galleries and information, an entertaining and informative blog and updates on news and events.

And if you wish to be part of our collective, Monalog welcomes a limited number of other like-minded photographers that wish to join us.

I look forward to this exciting journey together with you!

Recently I met up with my friend, his wife and their engaging 14-year-old daughter to give her some pointers for making photographs. She used an iPhone like most young adults her age. No surprise there, but no problem either. She was hungry to learn and listened carefully. We walked around Doylestown and she began to make photographs as I told her to look for things she would normally pass by without giving a thought, pointed out some interesting possibilities, gave her some ideas about framing the subject and talked about light.  All and all a very pleasant and rewarding afternoon!

One of the nicest gifts I’ve ever received was a hand written card that arrived in the mail, accompanied by a small color abstract image she made that day and later printed on her father’s printer. I was touched by the words she wrote and impressed by the image she made.  My new friend has since had become the proud owner of a film camera (care of her very thoughtful parents) and is making color and black and white photographs with … you guessed it … film!

It’s always nice to know you somehow made an impact on someone’s life, made all the more special when that person actually takes the time to thank you in a way not delivered by a text message.

I am excited about her enthusiasm, and look forward to the opportunity to photograph wither her again and see more of her work!

There has been a lot of complaining and intense examination taking place on the Internet concerning the recent Kodak Alaris’ price increase. In some cases prices have gone up by as much as 30%.

The following is a statement from the company:

“2019 has been exceptional year for film, Kodak Alaris has seen increasing demand for film with new interest in traditional photography growing and a decline in the volume of film our key competitor has released to the market. Our market share has grown and levels of positivity towards shooting film not seen for many years has returned. These changes have also come with some problems, in recent years film supply has only just kept pace with market demand during the peak season but this year the increased demand has resulted in the highest level of Kodak Alaris film sales for some years leading to supply issues for most of our film lines. We have had to prioritise production of the most important film types, for example Professional film which is critical to many Professional Photographers. Overall we have seen the level of customer back orders increase to an unprecedented level, we understand this creates a difficult issue for our customers and end users but film production has been limited by a finite supply of one of the key components used to produce film.

Alaris’s film supply comes from a single dedicated supplier, we are beholden to this supplier for all the film we sell across the world. Our supplier has recognised the increased demand for film and started to initiate plans to increase their volume capacity. A large ongoing financial investment has been made to increase production capacity but unfortunately the benefits of this investment will not be realised until much later in 2020, with some additional benefits being delivered in 2021.

As the level of customer orders has increased every step has been taken to supply film as promptly as possible to our customers, with nearly all film and the components needed to produce film being air shipped around the world. These actions have come with a fiscal cost and despite our and our suppliers best efforts we have not been able to keep up with demand resulting in the extraordinary level of customer back orders we now have.

Partly due to the investment cost related to increasing film capacity and other increases in operational costs our film supplier has passed on a significant price increase to us for all film products. This price increase is far bigger than Kodak Alaris can absorb and we are forced to announce a price increase will be made all of our customers across the world from the 1st January 2020.

Kodak Alaris’s Management Team have agreed to absorb some of the price increase but we cannot absorb all of the price increase, therefore a significant increase will still be passed on to all our customers.”

So here are my thoughts. If you have a problem with this, it’s time get over it and start moving on. In fact, you should thank your luck stars and be happy that Tri-X is still available! Be happy that Kodak’s other black and white films are still available. Be happy that D-76, HC-110 and Dektol are still available. Be happy that a company that provides fine products manufactured with strict quality control is making them available to us so we can pursue our vision. Don’t like Kodak, then use Ilford or some other manufacturer’s products, but Kodak’s continued well-being is important to all of us!

Film, paper, and chemicals are expensive. I get that.  Almost seven bucks for a roll of Tri-X certainly isn’t cheap, but I’ll gladly pay it.  I know I won’t convince everyone.  Still not happy; the next time you go through the Starbucks drive through think about how lucky we all are as you fork over nearly that much for a Venti of your favorite designer latte.

Things really are not so bad when it comes to black white film, paper and chemistry for silver gelatin work. Same goes for the chemistry and papers to make alternative emulsion processes.  Despite what some would have the uninformed think, film is not dead and traditional wet-based prints made from film are also alive and well.  There certainly was a time when the analog world was starting to look a little bleak, but that’s no longer the case!

Certainly if you are a fan of Kodak products there fewer films available and paper is no longer being produced, but Tri-X, for example, still lives on in its latest formulation along with D76 and HC-110 to develop it!  Ilford is still going strong; recently they introduced a range of new papers to update their VC line that compliments their beautiful Gallerie graded paper, and their films are still widely available. While the pickings might be slim in your local brick and mortar camera shop, Freestyle Photo, B&H and Adorama to name a few, have thriving storefronts and online sites so you can get whatever you need.

Checking out the Freestyle’s site I see listings for 26 brands of black and white film and 7 brands of paper available. In the case of film, there are a variety of choices up to 8×10. Less for 11X14, and beyond that you are talking about special orders to the majors, most likely for group purchases. But, Fuji Acros is back from the dead in the form of Acros II, available in 35mm and 120 formats.  Fuji originally discontinued Acros due to decreasing demand but according to the company “ due to recent interest from millennials and GenZs, who have become the newest film enthusiasts, Fujifilm developed a plan to revive black-and-white film to meet new market demands”.  Just like vinyl records, film will just not go away, due in part to resurgence of interest from younger generations.

When it comes to alternative processes, one only needs to visit the websites of Bostick & Sullivan, Artcraft and Photographer’s Formulary to stock up.  All three provide raw chemical components for those that like to mix their own, as well as premade products, including their own proprietary formulas.

Hey, even instant film is back along with the cameras to use it! 35mm, medium format and large format cameras are still being made and there’s a ton of high quality used gear out there that will work flawlessly for years to come. Enlargers are still being manufactured too and Jobo is producing their wonderful film processors again.  And more good news – used darkroom equipment still can easily be found at great prices.

Yes, film and paper costs have risen and we don’t have all the choices we once had. On the other hand we have some wonderful new film, paper and chemistry choices that were not available in the “good old days”!

All things considered, I would say the state of things is fine and life is pretty good!

On Saturday I spent several hours with my friend and outstanding photographer, Jim Kipfer ( www.jameskipfer.weebly.com ).  Jim was visiting and brought a clamshell box full of contact prints to look at. Most were made from 8X10 negatives, with a few from 4X10s. Some were made using the beautiful and now discontinued Lodima silver-chloride contact printing paper, and the others with a platinum solution, hand coated by Jim onto watercolor paper.

Looking at his prints was like a breath of fresh air; portraits of friends and family, intimate landscapes and vignettes of small towns.  What did they all have in common, besides being well seen and expertly printed?  They were gorgeous jewels with a depth you could truly reach into and feel! Even the platinum prints that tend to have a “softer” look to them were a sight to behold. And one other thing … they were of the size that I prefer, which forces the viewer to get close and really look into and study the image.

The experience made me wonder for a moment why I ever gave up on large format (actually I know why … snap out of it!).

Don’t let anyone tell you that there isn’t something special about contact prints, or that they can make an enlargement that looks as good or can rival a contact print.  If they do, they’re just flat out wrong or clearly can’t see!

Marveling at the quiet beauty of these exquisite images was something to really savor, as they exhibit something my enlargements from small negatives can never have. That doesn’t mean my 35mm and medium format-based prints are dogs; they’re made with the right tools for the types of pictures I wish to make. Rather in this case the artist has created the best final product he can with the large negatives at his disposal. To me, that’s an important statement and tells you an awful lot!

Now for those that use large format film (even 4×5) and have never tried contact printing, you owe it to yourself to make some contact prints to see what you’ve been missing. If the subject matter is there, the small print will knock your socks off. On the other hand, if your vision is lacking or you have become lazy, then making really large prints will be the way to go. Hey, they fit in well with the current gallery scene and are good for taking up unwanted wall space!