I was looking through a Sotherby's photography exhibition catalog last night and saw a large 16x20 contact sheet done by David Bailey of Andy Warhol. It gave me an idea to do some of my dump photo neg strips in the same form for the upcoming "Exposure Photography Festival" exhibition.
When I was in New Orleans I saw some Gordon Parks enlarged contacts exhibited to great affect and think its a nice arty type look but also fun and informative to the viewer. The people visiting the show can see the exposures made surrounding the final negatives chosen. To that end I would probably use selected negative strips, neg strips that have some of the prime show exposures on them. The contacts would be enlarged to 16x20, the same size as my show prints. I would probably make up 2 of these things. They also should be easier and faster to make, which is a bit of an added bonus.
I think this could really look cool, I might even mark my preferred shots, like real contacts. Not many people are still using film to make photographs so to give the average Joe public a look at contact sheets and an insight into the neg selection process seems like a winner to me. This would give people a view into old style photography, older techniques. Most folks probably have never seen a 35mm contact sheet. I have the capability to do this sort of thing because of the 8x10 enlarger, so I think I will go for it. This should add a bit more fun to the exhibit, combined with the background video it will give more for the visitors to see, they can look at the prints, the moving vid footage and the enlarged contacts. We are also thinking of doing up a couple of photo books.
Hopefully Larry and I can do up a serious show that deals with important social subjects but also is an enjoyable, educational experience for everyone.
When I was in New Orleans I saw some Gordon Parks enlarged contacts exhibited to great affect and think its a nice arty type look but also fun and informative to the viewer. The people visiting the show can see the exposures made surrounding the final negatives chosen. To that end I would probably use selected negative strips, neg strips that have some of the prime show exposures on them. The contacts would be enlarged to 16x20, the same size as my show prints. I would probably make up 2 of these things. They also should be easier and faster to make, which is a bit of an added bonus.
I think this could really look cool, I might even mark my preferred shots, like real contacts. Not many people are still using film to make photographs so to give the average Joe public a look at contact sheets and an insight into the neg selection process seems like a winner to me. This would give people a view into old style photography, older techniques. Most folks probably have never seen a 35mm contact sheet. I have the capability to do this sort of thing because of the 8x10 enlarger, so I think I will go for it. This should add a bit more fun to the exhibit, combined with the background video it will give more for the visitors to see, they can look at the prints, the moving vid footage and the enlarged contacts. We are also thinking of doing up a couple of photo books.
Hopefully Larry and I can do up a serious show that deals with important social subjects but also is an enjoyable, educational experience for everyone.
