My soon to be daughter-in-law is the daughter I always wanted. It was extra special for me to be at her wedding dress selection with her mother and best friend. Beautiful from the inside and out, I am so happy she fell in love with my son. I am looking forward to their wedding October 1st 2016 at The Rincon Beach Club in Santa Barbara.
In the early 1980’s while I was completing my Masters in Photography at Brooklyn College, I had also signed on with a stock agency named “Stock Boston”. The company flew me to Boston for my final interview. They wanted black and white photographs for books, advertisers, illustrators, newspapers, magazines on any and every subject you could dream of. So I invented stories and photographed anyone and everywhere I could think of.
I spent time in central Pennsylvania in a small town named Mt. Carmel. My mother had grown up there and I was anxious to see where she came from. In its heyday, in the 1940’s the population was almost 20,000. [ Today the population is less than 6,000 people.]The main industry was coal mining and manufactories of shirts, stockings, silk and planning mills. My grandfather was a coal miner. He was the first one to enter the mine with a canary. If it lived that meant the mine was safe to work in.
Besides spending time at the last coal mine in that area, I was directed to some very elderly miners who had been in Mt Carmel their entire lives. The gentleman I photographed in his home was 94 and still had lots of stories to tell me.
The photograph is about the passage of time. Stacked up paintings on the right once adorned the now empty walls, the almost haunting face from a painting reflected in the mirror- maybe himself as a child, or a child he once had. Work hat still close at hand, once a miner always a miner. Religious momentous surround him even in his last days.
Luckily, many of my photographs were selected by Stock Boston and used over and over. Somewhere out there a child sitting in class may have opened a textbook to find one of my photographs on the page. A History book is ready for an adult in college and silently my photographs are viewed. Perhaps you will find one the next time you open a book. Enjoy!!
ARCHIVAL AND ORGANIC PHOTOGRAPHS
In today’s world, everyone hears about organic foods and archival products. In a way, they are similar. As a portrait photographer, organic and archival are very important concepts for me and my portrait photography studio.
I have been eating fresh and organic foods all my life. I either grow or seek out what’s local and in season and what is grown without harmful chemicals. The same goes for the products I produce for my photography clients. I start with a high resolution file that has been meticulously retouched for a natural appearance. The inks I use are fresh, the paper and mats are acid free. Just as a fruit or vegetable is harvested at the appropriate time, my prints are made with pigment-based inks , cured and archival with a lightfast rating of up to 108 years. The grandmother test is that a print should be unnoticeably changed for three generations. Refrigerating your produce helps some last longer after harvesting. Photographic prints generally last longer when they are kept out of direct sunlight, extreme heat and humidity. Take a look at the photographs below.
PAPER FOR PORTRAIT PRINTS: These family portraits were all made over a hundred years ago. Each has varying stages of aging. The print from 1870 shows the most signs of deterioration with uniform lightening of the tonalities. The image was printed on albumen paper made with egg whites. The photographs from 1900 and 1911 were printed on a fiber based paper and show almost no signs of fading, just a shift to warmer toned blacks. At my portrait studio, the inks are pigment based and the paper is acid-free. I also offer photographs made on an artist’s acid free watercolor paper which has a slight texture. It is museum grade and produces prints rich in tonality.
COFFEE TABLE ALBUMS, BOUND LIBRARY BOOKS:
The company I work with has a tradition of fine bookbinding procedures since 1942. The original founders and owners were trained in old world Italy from a fifth generation custom bookbinder and use the finest quality materials. Album styles range from very traditional through contemporary to avant-garde. They welcome photographer’s ideas and will customize the books to meet our client’s needs.
CLOTH DESK FOLIOS: I have a company that uses Japanese bookbinding fabrics, acid-free mats and their loving hands make the most exquisite desk folios. They produce their products as heirlooms to last for generation after generation. This is a concept I fully embrace. What I also love is that they will create custom folios to meet my client’s needs.
At my portrait studio, archival and organic is a way of life. Photographs made with pigment based inks, on acid-free paper, and mounted in products like books and desk folios will last many generations. If you have any questions about growing vegetables organically or eating organic food, please contact me as well. I am well versed on both topics!!