The World of Master Printers - An ILFORD Inspires Film
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- Опубліковано 17 лис 2024
- A master printer is a film photographer's key collaborator. They bring to life stunning moments in time by manipulating light and dark while exercising passion in pursuit of perfection.
These silver gelatin darkroom experts help to realise the vision that film photographers have when they click the shutter. Using their knowledge and skills in the darkroom and beyond to coax out the details from the shadows and balance the light.
The World of Master Printers is episode 3 in ILFORD Inspires' darkroom printer series: New York Silver Stories. Watch the other episodes on the Ilford UA-cam channel.
A Film by Exploredinary
There are so many talented silver gelatin printers in the world and we are thrilled to be able to showcase just a few of these Master Printers in this 3rd video in our ILFORD Inspires New York Silver Stories series. A huge thank you as usual to the talented team @exploredinary for filming and editing and also to Digital Silver Imaging, Griffin Editions and Laumont Editions for letting us in to see and film the tremendous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.
Having a master printer is not for everyone
It's an elitist world, you have to do some kind of photography to be accepted in this kind of world
I take a lot of pictures with my pen*s in very close-up and high definition and there are only classic labs that will develop that, never a master printer
Man, I miss the darkroom, and the smell of it. I remember the first time I ever watched one of my images come up in a tray of developer...it was magic, and I said to myself there and then "If I ever do not feel this thrill when standing over a tray, then it will be time to quit." Well, I never lost that feeling. But then after a number of years at it, life intervened, then film died and digital took over (and true Art Photography died as a result of it). And then my house burned and I lost 30 years of negatives. Sigh...
@@harbourdogNL That's so sad to hear. We've seen a huge resurgence in film over the last several years and are starting to see it in darkroom printing too. Maybe you should find a community darkroom nearby and re-kindle your passion
@@Ilfordphoto Thank you. I managed to salvage my my 4x5 Crown Graphic and a Schneider 150 from the debris (although as you can imagine I'd have rather been able to salvage my negs; I had scanned only a handful) and I have joined the FB group of a some folks here (St. John's, Newfoundland) trying to get a darkroom on the go, so it's start!
I lived in NYC for 8 years and it was always such a treat to go around the photography galleries on the weekends, there was always good work to be seen somewhere (though I always had my face up close to the glass examining the printing!) I was never like a Master Printer of course, but I don't mind saying I was a damn good one!
This was a great video to watch, thanks so much.
Ilford definitely inspires - thanks for showcasing
Any one can take a photo but not all can make a photo, the joy of a darkroom. I have move onto printing my own Platinum Palladium images now! Thanks for the great video!
This was a fantastic project and we were thrilled to be invited to participate. This is our passion; it's what we do best. Thanks to Marcelle @morrisonhotelgallery for her support and well.
This is the dark room taken to a totally new level. I can only love and respect the early photographers which did it all in their own humble darkroom.
Every single second of this video made me happy. Thank you.
Thanks Matt - Glad we cheered up your day
"The Puzzle of the Print" sums it up completely in this fabulous video!
Yes! One of our favorite quotes from the film! Thanks for watching
It really does doesn't it :) Thanks for watching
Excellent homage to the printers and photogs of New York. I would like to add two printers I knew and worked with at Irwin Welcher's b&w lab, General Graphics, in San Francisco, CA. Eddy Dyba was the master printer and muralist at GG, and he printed the negs of Dorothea Lange, Morley Baer, and others. Kirk Anspach worked at GG as well. He printed Bill Owens' negs among others and eventually became personal printer for the photographer Jim Marshall. Eddy Dyba and Jim Marshall are no longer alive, and I expect that Kirk Anspach is still alive though I haven't seen him for many years. I just felt that they deserve the recognition regardless.
Hidden Gems, Thank You
Twenty five minutes watching your wonderful video, followed by seven hours in the darkroom. Pretty much a perfect evening, thank you @ILFORDPHOTO, @Exploredinary and all of the labs, printers and photographers involved. Inspiration and motivation are always so appreciated!
Thanks for watching! So happy to hear you were inspired!!
Thank you Ilford for providing us the supplies and the knowledge to keep discovering that magic over and over again.
Thank you for watching. Do you have a favourite ILFORD darkroom paper?
@@Ilfordphoto Art 300. Hands down.
Real photography, true masters of the art from capture to print. So inspiring. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! ❤
Made a lifetime of printing photographs for myself and other photographers ! Never quit ! Always something new and unexpected !
Do you find that you can also take the same negative into the darkroom and each time that you make a silver gelatin print you 'improve' it a little more?
Every time i print the same negative i improve the vision and interpretation of that image . ( I think i do , i hope i do ) .
To add i believe that printing a negative is like playing a score of music . Do you follow the notation or depart from the original intention ?
it's been a long, long time since i smelled "the stop", sadly... i remember times, printing in the darkroom, working to get a print to "say" what was wanted, only to glance at a clock...ohm it's 3:30 !
wonderful to see these dedicated 'craftsmen', who, indeed, bring artistry to their work, a synergy with the photographer that is truly part of the final artwork!
thanks for sharing the voices and passion of these "back room" artists!
Yes, time passes differently in the darkroom:) You should check out the list of community darkrooms on ilfordphoto.com and see if there's somewhere local where you can give it another try
We hope you enjoy this rare look into The World of Master Printers! It was so much fun to meet and film with all of these talented individuals who have dedicated their lives to photography.
Absolutely wonderful.
Its always more pure, more beautiful, more perfect when the photographer does his own printing to complete his vision, mono.
Do you think? A lot of well known photographers used Master Printers to help to bring their vision to life and I don't think that it takes away form the finished print as long as it is a collaboration. I love spending time in the darkroom but my skills will never match those that these Master Printers have.
@@Ilfordphoto It is always a more complete vision if you do 100% of the work yourself, that is obvious. If you get others to complete your vision, then how is it YOUR VISION? It then becomes a collaborative effort. LEARN TO PRINT and do it on your own, is my way of thinking. That is why I have been printing my own work for 44 years, I want to make it 100% mine. To each there own thou, some people do not want to put in the time and effort. But if you want to make it-100% yours then you need to do 100% of the work. As Adams said...THE NEGATIVES IS THE SCORE, THE PRINT IS THE PERFORMANCE. If you get others to do the performance, then your missing a big part of your art.
Beautiful video. I have been working on fourteen 16x12 prints in the darkroom for the past four days, went through two boxes of 50 sheets of paper. This has inspired me to keep going, only three more prints to go.
I remember my first venture into B&W developing/printing. I am much older than you and I started doing it in 1973. My dad used to help me by placing a light proof board across the kitchen window, mixing chemicals and developing the pictures. I didn't have a clue what to do at that stage, but I gradually progressed until I could do it alone. Regrettably, the hobby (it was for me) fell by the wayside due to marriage, work etc and I stopped processing my pictures. Fast forwarding quite a few years, photography was beginning to change to digital. I went down that avenue and bought my first digital camera (Sony Mavica which housed 3.5" discs). Digital continued for me and up until recently I used a Lumix G9 (I still have it). I wanted to get back to my earlier days and recently I bought a Pentax LX. I used about 5 rolls of film and they are currently with a film processor. I need to ensure that the camera is working correctly. I will eventually need to learn how to develop and print again, but everything in small steps.
Good luck with your photography, I like your pictures.
Greetings from London.
What a fantastic story. I hope that you get the results that you want from your films and rediscover the excitement of shooting film!
This is really something. Thank you very much. "A print is always a puzzle", this is so true and something I was never thinking.
I'm happy to see the continuation of this beautiful art service! Just this week, it broke my heart to heart that another great lab back in Denver, Reed Photo Imaging, closed their doors after many decades of producing amazing processing and printing for the photographic community. They were one of the leaders in the photographic world and will be greatly missed!
Amazing pictures, great ILFORD products are so highly regarded.
I started using ILFORD plates, film and paper in 1962 and I live in ILFORD!
I love this series. These videos are a joy to watch.
Thanks Tim. It's great to hear that you're enjoying the ILFORD Inspires videos. Have you watched them all?
Brilliant! Thank you for keeping the dream alive. Can't wait for the next film!
Neither can we. Hopefully it won't be too long a wait for the final 'New York Silver Stories' video
Wonderful inspiring video! Thank you.
Absolutely awesome !
Winter is approaching. Time for me to start printing in my home darkroom. This is just what I need to get me all fired up !!
Great to hear that Austen. Winter is the perfect time to hide in your darkroom and print your negatives.
What a wonderful video and look at the world of master printers
Thank you. So glad that you enjoyed it.
Wonderful. Do more 😊
Fantastic Film! Just outstanding.
I just love these video presentations, better than any TV content here in NEW ZEALAND.
My eyes lit up when I saw the darkroom revolving door at 18.19 just like the one I bought for $16.00 which makes loading films for darkroom work a breeze .
You have your own revolving door? That's impressive! Greta to hear that you enjoy our videos. Have you watched all of the ILFORD Inspires series?
Wonderful insight into the world of high-end photographic printing. Thank you for making this kind of documentary, it's very heartwarming to know that this kind of artistry is still happening.
Very good video to my friends at Ilford! While I spent more than 20 years as a portrait/wedding photographer I did a little B&W fine art photography. This was my big bonus to me for being a photographer!
All of these talented people are confident and personable. Simply a video that reminds us of the sheer beauty and incredible impressive power of large prints. I’ve only had a few large prints made. I gave one of a Cheetah to a 9 year old relative. Felt great to see his eyes light up.
Yes we agree. Prints can be so powerful, and large ones even more so. It's sad that so many negatives are only ever rendered digitally and never make it to the darkroom.
We love you Ilford! Thank you so much for what you guys do!
I love that Joan Jett picture on the wall!!! Made the cover for I love Rock n' Roll back in 1982 when I was -15
I recognized at a glance, even blurred hehe
Wow! What a great story! People doing what they love. So inspiring. Time for me to dust of my enlarger again! Thank you Ilford, these just keep getting better and better!!
Yes! If it inspires you to get in the darkroom then or work is done:) You can really see the passion and pride in their work come through in this video can't you.
I am a user of ilford products here in ARGENTINA the video is very very interesting Thanks ILFORD to do it
Wow, Excelente!!!!! Gracias.
Glad you enjoyed it Josep
Great film, thank you! It made me miss my commercial photo lab days, altho I still print in my home darkroom.
There's nothing like printing in your own darkroom space at home
fabulous insight to the printers art, i remember a long time ago being very impressed with Gene Nocon at one of his workshops in the early eighties, so inspiring, sadly no longer with us.... thank you Ilford and Harman for keeping the faith....
Fantastic and inspiring film. Thank you! 🙏🏾
The murial prints wow the attention to detail is unbelievable. Liked the guy with the bullfight images interpretation of what it was like to print this for the first time. A lovely memory 👌
So good to hear that. The large silver gelatine prints are something else aren't they? Do you print much in the darkroom?
@@Ilfordphoto . I haven't delved that far into it . Usually get a lab to develop and scan with flatbed scanner. Have a few negatives I'd like to get drum scanned etc.
Since 12! That's what I call love your work
to all of you at ILFORD you are amazing, wow what an awesome video
Thanks for watching! 🙌
Thanks so much Bill for the lovely comment. There's so much positivity about the series which is fantastic to see.
If you are interested in photography, this is a must watch.
Thanks David. Did you know much about what went on behind the scenes at Master Printers before watching this?
I’ll be sharing this video with my students this fall semester
Brilliant - Have you also seen the 'How to' series of videos? We find that a lot of lecturers use this with their photography students
What lovely work and to meet the people behind this craft, to hear their stories is a revelation. Please keep this series going...inspirational.
Thanks Mark. There is another video in the 'New York Silver Stories' series coming soon, and then we have plans for new videos next year too.
Love this feature! Learned a lot from this video while having the pleasure of enjoying beautiful imagery! Great stuff Ilford
Thank you for your kind words, so happy you enjoyed it! -Exploredinary
@exploredinary this is wonderful! Loved every part of it!
Thanks Aaron, really appreciate that! ❤
Thanks Aaron. Greta to hear you enjoyed this one
More videos like this please! Enlightening!
There's one more to come in this series Steve and more in the New Year. Have yo watch the previous ILFORD Inspires series?
Love this! Thank you Ilford 😃
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. Great to hear you enjoyed it.
Great film, more please!
thanks to Ilford/Harmon and the Explordinary crew. A job well done. I'm not sure if NYC is the centre of the photography world considering Tokyo, London, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo but no doubt NYC is an important place in the world of photography. The printers were a treat to watch and hear. I might add a question for clarification.. at the 22.54 mark an Agfa Gaevertz 120 format folder
camera is shown as a 135 film camera used by Benjamin Pelaez. You might want to find the appropriate camera and 'adjust accordingly'. A small but niggling point for those of us who are long time film photographers.
This documentary is a wonderful effort and video. Thanks and continued success
I really enjoyed this 🙂 Its given me motivation 🙂Thank you x
Perfect. We love this type of comment, this is exactly why these videos are created.
Ottimo lavoro Ilford👍👍👍👍👍
Grazie Claudio:)
Superb! Very inspiring. Kudos to Ilford for this production.
Not sure about your user name but thanks for watching and commenting. We're lucky that we get to work not only with the talented team @exploredinary but also with so many amazing film photographers and darkroom printers.
Excellent, excellent video. Loved the interviews, the visuals and the topic. I have so many good memories of the darkroom in my high school and college photography classes in the early 90's. This video brought back some of those good memories and really showed how far some masters have been able to take the art and craft of printing. Really eye opening!
That was one of the best videos I’ve seen ever on UA-cam
What a kind comment thank you so much. Do you shoot film and print in the the darkroom?
Thank you for your comment! So happy you enjoyed it!
Well, I'm going right to my darkroom now! Ilford, PLEASE, don't kill Ilfobrom Galerie! Thanks!
Errrr may be too late for that one. Our Multigrade FB Classic papers are great though, give them a try :)
@@Ilfordphoto :(
Well... It is what it is :)
Awesome story! This is the right way.
Than you. We agree that darkroom printing is the way to go
Perfect. Just...perfect!
Thanks for watching. Greta to hear that you enjoyed it. Do you print much yourself?
Thank you for sharing. It is an amazing video.
Thanks for watching and for your comment, we’re happy you enjoyed it!
So badass!
Great video! Thank you!
You're welcome Konstantin. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. Do you make silver gelatin prints from your negatives?
Thank you love to be inspired by great work
Thank you for watching Carl. Hopefully this will get you into the darkroom:)
These stories are fantastic, thank you Ilford and exploredinary for creating this series. Cheers Andrew in Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
Thanks for watching! Happy to hear you are enjoying the series!
Thanks so much for watching the ILFORD Inspires series Andrew. Have you watched the earlier ones too?
Incredible!
Thanks Cary. It's always interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes isn't it?
What a wonderful video! As a complete beginner in darkroom printing this is very inspiring.
This is what we like to hear! Make sure you check out our 'How to' series if you haven't already for tips to get you started in the darkroom.
i‘m totally speechless. i need to learn this!
It's such an amazing skill. Have a look at some of our 'How to' videos to get you started.
WoW do I wish I could learn and practice silver-gelatin printing in that environment.
Amazing production!
Thank you. Exploredinary are a very talented team and always do a fantastic job on the videos
Thank you very much for this beautiful video!!!!!
Thank you for taking the time to watch. Hopefully you found it interesting. Do you do any silver gelatin printing yourself?
Yes i do silver gelatin prints when i start taking pictures almost 20 years ago, nowadays i take film pictures of course but i want to make silver gelatin prints and i’m thinking to make a lab in my own house because in the town where i live don’t have any place to do it.
because my teacher, who had the lab in her house, with the advent of the digital, dismantled the analog lab and left me with no place to go to print.
Fantastic artists! Thank you.
Thanks for watching Pete. They really are artists aren't they?
Loved it!! Great work everyone, greetings from Greece!!
Hi Chris. Thanks for watching. Great to hear that you enjoyed this video. Have you watch the others in the New York Silver Stories series?
Excellent video, inspirational.
That's great to hear. Inspirational is what we're aiming for with this series. Have you watched the rest of the ILFORD Inspires videos?
Bravo! Thanks.
I loved this behind the scenes video, this was exceptional.
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video.Bravo!!!!!
Thanks for watching Stellos. Great to hear that you enjoyed it.
I used to do this in San Francisco, and developed printing techniques that took advantage of Ilford multigrade technology, using several contrast grades on the same print. I got pretty good at it, and fooled the boss at General Graphics by challenging him to differentiate between a single-weight glossy print and an RC glossy print. He couldn't tell the difference so we stopped wasting time with the ferrotype drum. Then I saw the writing on the wall, and got a degree in electronics, and left the business, got a job in television. Too bad. Now I see that good-old-fashioned black and white gelatin-silver printing is as strong as ever, but I could never live in a city again.
The MULTIGRADE system makes it easier to take advantage of split grade printing as you were doing. If you ever fancy trying it again there is a list of community darkrooms on our website www.ilfordphoto.com/storelocator
Some of us old timers are still around… not so fast, we made our photographs and printed them too!
Yes, there are loads of darkroom printers out there both old and new. Check out some of the other ILFORD Inspires videos which feature some of them
great video!👏👏
Thanks David
Excellent video! Printing is such an art itself, it’s kind of daunting to go down that road. Great look at the people involved in that part of the process, and see their involvement in producing some amazing pieces of art.
Thanks Jarrett. We agree that silver gelatin printing is an artform and it takes year to reach this level of expertise.
Beautiful and very inspiring !
Thank you Dmitri - Great to hear that you enjoyed it
other people go to New York for museums, I'm jus gonna visit all these printing studios xD
We're with you there. You could take some of your negatives with you :)
The art of printing
Wonderful. Thank you!
Thank you for watching Markus - Hopefully we've inspired you to take your negatives into the darkroom and get printing.
Thanks for this inspiring documental. I would love to see one of my pictures in the hands of these masters …
Do you print them yourself in the darkroom?
@@Ilfordphoto yes. I started some months ago with a 35 mm enlarger. I am looking forward to make my own prints with my 4x5 slides. I am using ILFORD multi grade paper.
Thank you! Great video!
Glad you enjoyed watching. Have you seen all 3 videos in the New York Silver Stories series?
@@Ilfordphoto Yes, I saw them. All of them are very inspiring. Do you have any plans to make more videos like this? It would be great to see videos about darkroom fanatics and master printers from Europe and maybe from Asia as well!
Awesome :)
Very cool and inspirational!
Thank for watching and taking the time to comment. We're lucky that we get to work with such inspirational people and that they all share the same passion for silver gelatine darkroom printing.
dream job.....especially having access to ultra large printing on your off hours
What a dying art. Lions envisioned maybe one day owning a darkroom & processing film at home, in 1993. By 1995, photoshop 3 was the beginning of the end.
that was sooo amazing.. feel so inspired
Thanks so much Eliza. Do you get chance to do much silver gelatin darkroom printing yourself?
@@Ilfordphoto yes, i have just built a dark room in my garden. i have called it Silver Barn Darkroom. I am a mature photography undergraduate at The University of Suffolk. we have wonderful darkrooms there but having my own and learning to mix all my own chemicals is so exciting and a great learning curve. i had moved to digital during the pandemic and was using a lot of photoshop which i love, making collages and stuff so moving back to analogue Black and White and actually doing the printing was quite a big change in mindset. but i am already loving it, just see light everywhere.
Makes me wanna go 35mm or 120 roll film again!
Do it! With ILFORD or Kentmere films of course :) And then share your shots with us on Instagram
Inspirational!
I miss Cibachrome material availability so much!
Looked. I'm going to print 🧐
Fantastic. Enjoy your time in the darkroom :)
awesome
Superb
Thanks Gael. Did you realise what went on behind these scenes at a Master Printers?
Woooww! ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I fancied myself a master printer printing 8x10 and the occasional 12x16 in my room but i guess not after watching this😢🤣
😂😂 I know right?! We were blown away at seeing these “murals” as they call them in person
Us too! The skill and knowledge that these guys have is phenomenal isn't it.
I see that all of the prints have wide borders. is that the normal process?