Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => Discussing Photographic Styles => Topic started by: Rob C on March 05, 2019, 03:36:37 pm
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https://oscarenfotos.com/2016/12/11/in-the-american-west-de-richard-avedon-la-serie-completa-comentada/
Even if the Spanish defeats, the "making of" pictures hold their own interest; I hope you can get some pleasure from this link.
This is the first time I've seen the entire collection, and it sure is an overpowering work; I can understand why he got so much criticism for it, but for those expecting the Marlboro Man - as pointed out in the copy, this was never going to be his intention. The writer furher points out that the opus is not called The American West, but In The American West, which has a whole other connotation.
Rob
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+1. Thanks!
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I enjoyed the images, thanks for the link, Rob. Reminds me of how involved dodging and burning could be in the darkroom. Often I was happy to get one satisfactory enlargement during a five-hour evening.
Darn, my Spanish is poor - my limited Italian is no help either.
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Excellent, Rob. Thanks!
The burn and dodge instructions were worth the price of admission. :)
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How does one interpret those instructions? What does +15 on the nose mean? Making it darker or making it even brighter in the end result?
I have to say the terminology about "dodge" and "burn" is absolutely confusing for people who have no experience with the darkroom and film negatives and I don't know why we continue to use those terms in the age of digital postprocess. When I teach people I tell them to imagine that after something burns it's black but it still confuses them. They understand "make it brighter" and "make it darker".
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How does one interpret those instructions? What does +15 on the nose mean? Making it darker or making it even brighter in the end result?
Those instructions are probably unique to the relationship between Avedon and his printer. They could be time measurements ("add three seconds of exposure here") or EV measurements ("make this area a third of a stop darker") I was more amused by the complexity and extent of the instructions than their precise meanings. Without detailed inspection of the entire image, it's not easy to estimate their intent. How easy (and reversible!) those changes have become today compared to "the good old days" (formerly known as "these trying times")
I have to say the terminology about "dodge" and "burn" is absolutely confusing for people who have no experience with the darkroom and film negatives and I don't know why we continue to use those terms in the age of digital postprocess. When I teach people I tell them to imagine that after something burns it's black but it still confuses them. They understand "make it brighter" and "make it darker".
Agreed. Modern software needs to break with the past in this regard. Nobody cares about little bits of wire with discs made of tape stuck to the end, or pieces of black card with holes of varying shape cut into them. :) Besides, local control now far exceeds the bounds of "make it darker" or "make it lighter".