I’m excited to have finally chosen a paper for my show. This three month process has not only been daunting but frustrating. But I know a whole heck of a lot more about printing then I ever did. When I started working with still life. I didn’t think it was going to turn into a fine art gallery show. Over time it became one. I also knew color would become steadily important, so I wanted to work with vibrancy and contrast. You’ll notice a very strong and defined color palette in each photograph. [link to food section]
At the ASMP fine art review. I sat down with a collector and he wanted me to push color even further. I had actually muted it slightly for the presentation. A few months ago. That was the color trend emerging – I was also a bit afraid of pushing it all the way. Lastly – editor’s were responding to my glossy book of still life (my newest portfolio). They really liked it. But time and time again, I was told that collectors and the fine art world does not like glossy. So this unique bridge needed to be crossed.
Finally I had to actually find a paper that could hold and communicate the saturation strongly. After trying many print suppliers and choices – I have more 8×10 sheets from mills then I’d ever care to admit. I finally settled on Hahnemuehle’s Baryta FB. It’s odd that they consider it a glossy paper, for me it isn’t. It actually has less coating then other suppliers and the paper is brighter white as well. That means all my colors pop off the page and clean crisp lines are created. It has just the right amount of coating to really let the colors strike you. Which is what I wanted. The feeling of larger then life food staring at you, from colors to sculpture.
I really feel like photography is a lot more then just a camera and snap. It’s about the subject, capturing the subject, working with the photo itself. I really wanted to work with images that could only live in photography, that were so ephemeral that it can’t live in any other context.
So I’m excited I have my paper and can get to work putting the show together. Now I just have to find the right gallery.
Tags: Baryta FB, column, fine art photography, Hahnemuehle, paper, printing
