Hi,
Here is some info that was recently posted on another list i am on by Daniel
Bowdoin, i have just cut and pasted it:
In a series of articles the year before last in the French magazine,
Reponses Photom some details about this or that aspect of Salgado's work
were provided. His choice of camera at that time was the R6.2. He carries
three 6.2s,
with 28, 35, and 60mm macro lenses, and a 70-180/2.8 zoom. He comments
that he uses the zoom only rarely and that he takes resorting to it is
an admission of failure. The three prime lenses are kept mounted and
ready, so that rather than mount/dismount lenes he can just switch
cameras. He carries one M6 body with 50 summilux, 35 summicron, and 28
elmarit with viewfinder. He uses Tr-X and T-Max 3200. While in his interview
he states that he
uses "une grosse majorite de Kodak Tri-X et une petite minorite de T-Max
3200," the article about his printer suggests that the ratio is more like
2/3 Tri-X to 1/3 T-Max. The Tri-X is mostly shot straight, at 400, but
with occasional exceptions ranging from 200 to 800. The T-Max, which he
obviously saves for extreme lighting situations, ranges from 1600 to 12000.
All his film goes to a lab for developing, and there is no mention about
what developer he prefers with either film, or even if he cares. He uses
either of two Paris labs, Picto and Imaginoir. Much more detail is provided
about the printing side. He has two
enlargers--a Durst Laborator 1200 with an Ilford Multigrade head, and a
Laborator 138 with a color head. Enlarging lens of choice is an EL-Nikkor
63/2.8. If your interested in this much detail, he uses an Ahel 4-blade
easel and a Bauerle timer for the Durst 138 (the Ilford head on the 1200
has a self-contained timer). Papers are all Kodak--Polymax Fine Art
brilliant (F surface), Polymax II RC luster (E surface). Double weight,
roughly comparable to the old Kodak Elite premium weight. His paper is
custom cut in Rochester to 24x34 inches. Developed in Dektol. Polymax
fixer. He uses a Deville vertical washer and an Ademco mounting press.
Spotting done with Spotone! There's a photograph of Dominque Granier, his
printer, working over a print with an airbrush filled with potassium
ferricyanide. This little clue, taken together with the three "typical"
prints that are discussed in the article about his darkroom ("Salgado,
cote labo: les secrets de son tireur), suggests that many of Salgado's
prints involve a considerable amount of finessing.
Regards,
Paul Jones
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shel Belinkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 10:39 AM
Subject: Re: Salgado: Equipment & Technique Makes an Impact
> Yep ... you can theorize all you want about what's possible with 35mm
> and TX/T-MAX, and that it can't give you sharpness and information past
> a certain degree, and then you see those prints and you begin to wonder
> <g>.
>
> I'm going to see Salgado this evening, and if I can, I'll ask if he hand
> picks or modifies his gear in any way, and about his printer. What I
> really want to know is how he deals with the emotional aspects of seeing
> all that horror day after day, and being away from his family as much as
> he must.
>
> Frantisek Vlcek wrote:
> >
> > Hi Shel,
> > this exhibition (Exodus) was here in Prague in the autumn last
> > year, I was to it several times... truly excellent!
> >
> > What can I say... until seeing his prints, I though that I am
> > getting pretty good results from 35mm format, and that I have good
> > technique. After seeing the exhibition, well, it was a little
> > disheartening to see such perfect prints from small format,
> > especially compared to mine.
> >
> > His great photographs (I like his vision) are complemented a lot by
> > the perfect technique. OTOH, I have seen many perfect photographs
> > with bad technique, that still had the same or nearly same impact,
> > but it really helps if the technique is perfect too.
> >
> > As you said, most things like DOF, 1/FL rule for camera shake, etc.
> > are almost unusable when doing big prints. DOF scales are
> > calibrated for 8x10" prints, even on Zeiss lenses... when you print
> > 50x60cm, DOF scales are completely useless. Same for 1/FL rule,
> > that was made up in the old days for even smaller prints than
> > 8x10"/18x24cm (of course, there are cameras exception to this,
> > which can be handholded much steadier, like Rolleiflexes and few
> > other TLRs, some rangefinders,...).
> > Lot of people have expensive lenses and use a bad enlarger which
> > for example has not perfect alignment or is too much sensitive to
> > enlarger shake (I have seen few expensive dursts and similar which
> > had big shake problems after even minute adjustment of a knob or
> > dial, while my many times cheaper Magnifax IV is very steady).
> >
> > BTW, his printer (or does he print himself?) is pretty good. A lot
> > of good was made to the prints in the darkroom.
> >
> > I suggest everyone with interest in reportage or documentary (and
> > just about every other) photography go see this exhibition if you
> > have a chance. You will see something about the world we live in,
> > and also, you will see what's possible to get from small format.
>
> --
> Shel Belinkoff
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://home.earthlink.net/~belinkoff/
> -
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