{"id":125,"date":"2012-08-24T13:53:14","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T13:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=125"},"modified":"2012-09-14T11:16:38","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T11:16:38","slug":"installment-5-black-old-tech-for-a-new-era-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/installment-5-black-old-tech-for-a-new-era-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Installment 5: Black & White revisited; Old Tech for a New Era part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve described myself as a \u2018progressive obsoletist,\u2019\u2014an unfamiliar term that I may have invented. Invariably, someone will try to pigeon-hole me, demanding, \u201cwhat is\u00a0<\/em>that?!\u201d\u2014as if the term wasn\u2019t completely self-explanatory. Without a long-winded, half-cynical satirical diatribe, I doubt I could convey my definition of this obscure set of beliefs, however, in photographic terms I\u2019ll offer a contemporary corollary based on recent experiments.<\/p>\n

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Mass-Central at South Barre, Massachusetts on June 14, 2012. This image was exposed on Fuji Acros 100 using a Leica 3a rangefinder fitted with a 21mm Super-Angulon. Film was processed to be scanned.\u00a0Photo by Brian Solomon \u00a92012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve been dabbling with black & white photography for decades. I nearly perfected my technique when I was in college, only to virtually abandon black & white professionally in favor of color media. However, from time to time, I return to black & white, and with each visit try to further hone my process.<\/p>\n

What does that<\/em> mean? Well, first off, I always process my own film. Secondly, I\u2019m very conscious of the processing method and formulas I hope to use while I\u2019m making photographs. Thirdly, I\u2019m always making small adjustments in my process in efforts to making more pleasing images.<\/p>\n

The caveats to this process adjustment are that: 1) I\u2019m never really satisfied with my results; 2) I never will be; and, 3) despite constant tinkering with formulas, my actual process is based on empirical analysis, rather than a strict, calculated scientific approach. I\u2019m sure photo-chemists, when analyzing what I do, would decide that about half my process is unnecessary, and while on the whole it\u2019s too complicated and could be better achieved in some alternative manner. But for me that\u2019s not really the point. Making and developing the images are all part of the process, and this process involves converting what I see in three dimensions and full living color into a static, two dimensional, mono-chromatic set of images.<\/p>\n

In January, 1998, TRAINS Magazine<\/em>, I had a portfolio of photos published, and in that series, I described the spread with three monochromatic images as \u2018One Thousand Shades of Gray\u2019. Well, in light of some recent popular literature (not involving monochromatic images, so I am told), a similar title with fewer numbers of shades has stolen my thunder. Fair enough, but not really my point. With One Thousand Shades of Gray<\/em> I was only trying to be clever, since proper black & white photography is more than just black and white but more about all the gray in between. And that\u2019s largely what I\u2019m after in my process refinement and adjustment \u2014 tonality and contrast. The machinery and landscape of the railroad are subjects ideally suited to this medium, while slight adjustments can make the difference between a fairly interesting railroad image and a truly memorable one.<\/p>\n

Why not just convert modern digitally produced color files into monochromatic images? Good question. First of all, I\u2019ve done that, both with my Lumix LX3 and my Canon 7D, and I\u2019ve been happy with my results. Secondly, I don\u2019t have any qualms about producing monochromatic images digitally. There are different tools for different type of images. There are times when a digital monochromatic image feels like the best choice, and there are times when color works better. (Generally, however, if I\u2019m going to make a monochromatic image, I work with that medium on-site, rather than produce after the fact.)<\/p>\n

So, why use film? The short answer is pretty selfish; because I want to! I like B&W photography, I like film, I\u2019ve always worked with film, and continuing to work with film (at least part of the time) lends a certain continuity to my photography.<\/p>\n

I have other reasons as well. I\u2019ve found that using film, processed in accordance with my customized formula, and then scanned with a flatbed scanner, produces an image file that looks really pleasing to my eye. The combination of tonality (technically, \u201cdynamic range\u201d), acutance, and granularity when viewed on an iPad or computer screen looks great. This is the visual embodiment of progressive obsoletism!<\/p>\n

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CSX west of Chester, Massachusetts\u2014June 2012. This image was exposed on Fuji Acros 100 using a Leica 3a rangefinder fitted with a 21mm Super-Angulon. Film was processed to be scanned. Photo by Brian Solomon \u00a92012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another reason is archival quality. And here I\u2019ll dare tread on some sensitive toes. From my experience and understanding of the digital mediums, there are no sure-fire means of insuring long term digital storage without regular intervals of human intervention. In other words, if you don\u2019t make multiple copies of your digital images, and continue to copy them, basic flaws in digital storage will probably result in the complete loss of your images within years or decades. My father, Richard J. Solomon, has illustrated this in the<\/span> Center for Railroad Photography and Art\u2019s annual Talks on Photography<\/a> held at Lake Forest, Illinois, and in various articles. Simply, the very nature of the digital age tends toward the ephemeral use of data. While in the near term you can preserve your digital photos; long term, if a conscious effort isn\u2019t made at continuing your storage, in all likelihood your images will completely vanish. (As anyone who has ever dropped a hard disk will sympathize.)<\/p>\n

By contrast, my black & white process uses techniques that are known to produce negatives that should last for hundreds or thousands of years without regular intervention. So, barring disaster, long after all the hard drives have been wiped clean, the DVDs have faded into uselessness, and the software used to decipher today\u2019s data has become more arcane than odd-dialects of ancient Sumerian, my black & white negatives should still be identifiable and usable as photographs.<\/p>\n

Whether or not anyone cares in a hundred-plus years is another story. In my research for books and other photographic endeavors, I\u2019ve often thought it ironic that 19th<\/sup> century glass plates will likely outlive virtually all the images being made today. I hope that I\u2019m wrong. And, since I won\u2019t be around in 100+ years, I\u2019ll never know, but just in case I keep at black & white film photography, at least some of the time. And since I scan my negatives at high resolution, I\u2019ll have most of the benefits of digital storage as well as that offered by traditional film. At least there\u2019ll be some images of modern trains alongside the plates of Baldwin 2-8-0s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
CSX Q425 (West Springfield, Massachusetts to Selkirk, New York) works west at Washington Cut on June 14, 2012. (Fuji Acros 100 exposed with Leica 3a and 21 mm lens). photo by Brian Solomon \u00a92012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Putting Theory into Practice<\/p>\n

In the last few months, I plunged into our collection of antique cameras and gone back to my roots. In my youth, I was always seen carrying a prewar Leica IIIa. With that I exposed countless railway photos, from Central Vermont GP9s and RS-11s crossing the diamond at Palmer, Massachusetts, to GG1s grinding into South Amboy, New Jersey, as well as views from Amtrak\u2019s Coast Starlight<\/em> negotiating SP\u2019s Cuesta grade near San Luis Obispo, California. Remarkably, I still have this camera, or its near cousin (in truth, I think we had three different IIIa bodies in our house plus a \u00a0postwar IIIc, and several later model Leica M\u2019s). In my recent IIIa efforts, I employed my father\u2019s Leica-screw-mount 21mm Super-Angulon (actually a Schneider lens design), and wandered around my old territory in New England exposing a few rolls of Fuji Acros 100. (I also recorded thousands of digital images as well)<\/p>\n

Having earlier this year made modifications to my process (for a future post), I then souped the film, scanned it, and analyzed my results.<\/p>\n

Pulling the film out of the tanks, I was immediately disappointed, but then, after scanning, I gradually came to accept and finally embraced my results. I\u2019ve displayed a few here. Choice of subject matter was key to my choice of equipment and media. I largely photographed former Boston & Albany, Central Vermont, and Boston & Maine lines; the same railway lines I photographed as a kid\u2014thus keeping with my theme of continuity. Earlier this year, I\u2019d embarked on a similar project, photographing in Dublin, but using a different set of retro-equipment (another the topic for a future post).<\/p>\n

Not only do these images offer an element of consistency working with photos from my archive, but I feel they also work well as stand-alone photographs. I have plenty of color digital images to satisfy commercial illustration requirements and my personal needs for instant image analysis (did I catch it? Was the light right? Did that cloud get in my way? Are my exposures tight?). But, I also have these satisfying monochromes, that may, so it seems, last for a virtual eternity. Coming soon, I\u2019ll post the details of my exposures, technique, and chemical process. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n

For the next post in this series see: Black & White revisited part 2, Secrets Revealed!<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve described myself as a \u2018progressive obsoletist,\u2019\u2014an unfamiliar term that I may have invented. Invariably, someone will try to pigeon-hole me, demanding, \u201cwhat is\u00a0that?!\u201d\u2014as if the term wasn\u2019t completely self-explanatory. Without a long-winded, half-cynical satirical diatribe, I doubt I could convey my definition of this obscure set of beliefs, however, in photographic terms I\u2019ll offer … Continue reading Installment 5: Black & White revisited; Old Tech for a New Era part 1<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10],"tags":[3814,4537,26,5],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-21","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}