straight from the darkroom

The opening reception went really well, and lots of great folks came by.

A big thank you to all who attended my first solo show, particularly those who came from as far as:

• Ottawa
• Victoria
• Halfmoon Bay
• Vedder Crossing (Chilliwack)
• The United States
• Other far-flung locales

There was a good crowd at the opening, enjoying the photographs along with tasty snacks and good conversation. The fabulous Emily Parsons was very kind to take photos of the event pro bono mea.

All photos: Emily Parsons unless otherwise noted

Yours Truly in front of the work just before the opening begins.

The calm before the storm. Bob reads the ‘Artist’s Statement.’ Photo: dp

Tuka

Family Viewing

Early in the evening

Sarah and Joshua

Gilbert and Rosemary

Bob and Marie

Jen

Y. T. with Jerry

Mid-way through the opening

Kathy and Marie wash dishes

The exhibition team : ) Photo: Tristan Shouldice

Spent the day in the dark again today.

Presentation is key with photographs. Even the nicest 4×6 can still look like you just got it back from Mal-Wart simply because we are so accustomed to seeing prints at that size. (That said: matte paper (instead of glossy) with black rebate or white borders can go a long way to improve the presentation of a one hour lab-print)

8×10 inch prints and almost anything full bleed (without borders) can even become monotonous when they are all presented the same. For this reason, I try not to print much in standard presentations, though I still use standard sized paper (especially 8×10).

I’ve been on a kick for the past few years where everything I’ve printed was smaller than 5×7 inches. I even made an entire portfolio of tiny images on 11×14 inch paper. Then I thought maybe I should try something else. So for the AVENUES exhibition I was part of in April I went big. (Really big.)

Setting up for AVENUES. Photo: Joel Dufresne

Me and my prints. Photo: Joel Dufresne

But I couldn’t resist going small, so I still went small. (But many.)

Setting up the little ones. Photo: Joel Dufresne

In the photo above, there are 222 little ones –or possibly 223; I can’t tell if I’m obscuring one– and I wasn’t quite done yet.

So today I was printing big again, not 30″x72″ as I did before, but still big: 16″x20″.

One of my favourite photos from Oaxaca is this one:

…and I had printed but a small work print, so I figured I ought to reprint it. (And big.)

By contrast: here is one of my work prints from the Vancouver Series. (4″x4″)

I think that both large and small have something to say, and that while the relationship between size and quality or between size and significance isn’t linear, print size does play an important role in presentation.

Here’s one last comparison, Oaxaca to Vancouver:

-Goodnight.