----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob W" <[email protected]>
To: "'Pentax-Discuss Mail List'" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 9:23 AM
Subject: RE: HCB Exhibition
sounds great - wish I could see it.
Most of HCB's printing after WWII was done by Pierre Gassmann's team in
Paris. Their aim was to bring out as much of what was on the negative as
possible, without resorting to extreme stuff such as you might see from
someone like W E Smith. You'll probably find that they have the full range
of tonality. The apparent low contrast may be relative to what we have
become used to in recent years; perhaps also a result of different film
stocks and processing chemicals and techniques. I like HCB prints because
they are all about the subject matter, not the technique.
Your comment about subject matter & technique is interesting, because a good
many galleries often encourage work submissions that reveal some innovation
in technique, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but like you, I'm always
*a lot more interested in the subject matter.*
Peter Galassi, the curator, published one of the classic HCB books "Henri
Cartier-Bresson: The Early Work" for an exhibition at MOMA NYC in 1987. At
the back of the book he has a note about the prints, in which he explains
that HCB printed many of the earlier ones himself, and the pictures are
now
known only from those prints since HCB destroyed many of his negatives.
Although HCB could be a very good printer, he was not always patient
enough
to be so, so the quality of some of the earlier prints is sub-prime.
Yes, I saw a documentary about him and he admitted he didn't have the
patience for this.
When I saw Ansel Adams prints from the first time I was also surprised at
the relatively low contrast compared to what we see in the books, but in
that particular exhibition they also featured side-by-side prints of the
same negative made years apart, and the later ones always had higher
contrast than the earlier ones. It seems as though our tastes have changed
over the years.
Indeed. Cheers, Christine
Bob
Hi Everyone:
Well, I've seen 300 HCB photographs, and I purchased the paperback
edition
of the exhibition catalogue. Wow, what an experience. If you're in the
Midwest area, I'd definitely recommend flying in or driving in to see it.
Overwhelming majority of the prints were 7ish by 11ish in size, and
grouped
thematically--early work, photo essays in LIFE magazine (China & Russia),
beauty, portraits, and later work--just an amazing collection of subject
material.
What surprised me was the low contrast in a good many of the prints, and
I
don't know if that is because of age of the print or intent. The
photographs
in the exhibition catalogue have stronger contrast. I had this same
surprise
when I saw Dorthea Lange prints (Migrant Mother etc) at the photo museum
at Columbia College. in Chicago.
Because of the small print size, the photographs, to my eye, didn't *pop*
off
the wall as I expected, though I think that's because some of the images
loom large in my mind's eye. Soft focus and grain very noticeable
through
out the collection.
All in all we had a nice time. No pictures of note, just a document of
the
entrance way. Security was tight and no pictures allowed in exhibit
area.
The show runs until 10/3/2010.
Cheers, Christine
http://www.caguila.com/caguila/hcb/
http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/exhibition/cartierbressonmodern
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