The winter weather has not been appealing for outdoor photography, especially with a big view camera (a.k.a. "kite"), so I have been enjoying reading a book of essays about Paul Strand. Imagine being invited into a Photo League discussion group with Strand, Leo Hurwitz, Ralph Steiner, Lewis Jacobs, and a few others; it was something to savor. And what were they discussing? The merits of contact printing, the new method of using an enlarger to make prints, the best film/developer combinations, and what papers were no longer available. Sounds familiar, like Robert Finley's essay last month on the introduction of digital in the printing process, and the disappearance of Super XX film and Azo paper.

When discussing the emotional or artistic approach to his photography, Strand stressed an understanding of subject matter and the ability to move beyond direct representation to an increasing awareness and intensity of experience. He always emphasized that the entire area of the photograph must be unified, and everything must relate to the whole and to the photographer.

This month's IN FOCUS has Paula Chamlee, a master at accounting for every square millimeter of the image, discussing how she uses a unique creativity of vision when working in the field. Read about what happens when we are open in relating to the subject. And Ray Bidegain puts into words the relationship with his subjects in the controlled environment of the studio. Here are two different photographers, with different subjects and different photographs, but one unifying goal—an expressive print.

Be sure to read about upcoming shows and workshops by various Guild members. With so many events on tap, there may well be one in your area.

Contact prints are universally valued for their remarkable qualities of optical sharpness, fine detail, and sensual textures. Contact printing has evolved to a forceful aesthetic today, one of purity and perfection that is actively practiced by Guild members. The decision to make handmade contact prints reflects a method of working that necessitates contemplation. It is a time-consuming process that records each detail in the print quality to achieve the unsurpassed graphic and textural form present in each print.

Above is Scott Peters' 7x17 Azo contact print entitled "Cylinders, Jerome AZ, 2007," currently available through our Online Gallery. Because we understand the difficulty of seeing the true beauty of a contact print from a scanned image on your computer, we offer an unconditional guarantee. If you are not satisfied with any photograph you have purchased from the Online Gallery, you can return it for a refund. We currently have nearly 400 photographs available for sale. Just click on the link below to quickly and easily view our catalog. The Gallery is a secure site that allows you to purchase using your credit card or PayPal account.

Click here to visit our Online Gallery.

Ray Bidegain: On Studio Work

Guild member Ray Bidegain talks about making large-format portraits in his studio.

"I have been photographing portraits with my 8x10 camera ever since I bought my first Calumet C-1 in 1980. Although I have been concentrating more effort on landscapes in recent years, I still do studio sessions, making portraits of friends and of strangers. When I do go back in my studio with a subject, it reminds me of why photographing portraits has held my attention for all these years. For me, it is the intense interaction between myself and the subject, simultaneously having common goals and conflicting ideals. The person sitting for the portrait wants to look good, whatever that happens to mean to her or to him. I strive to make them look both real and interesting. I want my portraits to make strangers want to know the subject; I also want them to look beautiful, important, and alive. The studio gives me some control over the process: It lets me control the environment; it gives me a space to put the sitter in good light. For me, that is directional light with enough contrast to give the subject plenty of shape; I want both highlights and deep shadows.

"I find that using an 8x10 helps the whole process work better for me, because it slows things down. The very process of operating the view camera distracts the sitters from the things they dread the most: the session, the precise moment of taking the photograph, the "not knowing" how they will look. In a very real way, I am not sure how they will look either, because once the film holder is in the camera back and the dark slide is removed, I can no longer see the image on the ground glass. It is like built-in serendipity. I have to fight the urge to check the focus, to look at the glass just one more time, or any number of other checks. Instead I am left to look over the camera and begin the dialog with my subject. It is through this dialog that I am able to find something real and interesting, revealed for a brief moment across the face of my new, or old, friend."

Above you see Ray's portrait of Katie. To see his work available in our Online Gallery, including portraits and landscapes, please click here.

When I printed the first photograph below, Michael said, "Where did you make that?"

"On Route 208." (2006 trip to Iceland)

"Where on Route 208?"

"A few feet away from where you were photographing."

"But there weren't any canyons on Route 208."

"These are not canyons."

"Really? This photograph looks like the one you made at Murphy Point Overlook in Canyonlands. How deep were these 'canyons'?'"

"About 6 inches."

I can still remember the "Wow!" from discovering each of these images on the ground glass. Whether there is deep or shallow space, I have always been drawn to making photographs with spatial ambiguity. It isn't an idea of how to work; it just appeals to me because it's a challenging and exciting way to organize visual elements within the confines of the rectangle. In the end, it is solely about my intuitive reaction to things, regardless of the subject or its context.

I had the occasion recently to meet with a curator who had come to our studio to choose a group of my photographs for a museum show later this year. After showing her stacks of contact prints, and then several clips from my new films (in progress), she said, "Your stills are just like your films, they are all about movement: very active rhythms, yet peaceful at the same time."

I never think about those things when I'm working. I just respond to what feels right. We each have our way of relating to the world, and for me, making visual objects has always been a meaningful way to connect with the world. It provides deep pleasure and a never-ending source of learning.

To see Paula Chamlee's contact prints available through the Guild's Online Gallery, please click here.

	Route 208, Iceland, 2006
	Murphy Point Overlook, Canyonlands, 1993

Please check out the Special Offers section of our Gallery for prints offered by Guild members through this newsletter. Using this link, you can buy selected photographs that Guild members have discounted for a limited time.

At right is "Paso Robles Oaks," a 5x7 hand-made platinum/palladium print by Patrick Kolb, available this month at a very special price. Some of our prints are also featured in the current B&W Magazine advertisement. Please visit the Guild's special-offer prints on our website.

Ian Leake: London, England

Ian Leake is exhibiting six platinum/palladium prints at Silverprint in London throughout March. Silverprint is London's leading traditional photography store and can be found at 12 Valentine Place, London SE1 8QH You may telephone 0207 620 0844 for hours and assistance in reaching the venue.

At left you see Ian's lovely image entitled "Feet," an 8x10 platinum/palladium contact print available for purchase in the our Online Gallery. To see more of his work, please click here.

Scott Peters: Phoenix, AZ

The 422 Gallery is holding a two-person exhibit by Scott Peters (with John Wimberley) through March. The gallery is located at 4115 N 44th Street in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, please contact Scott by sending him an email at scott@contactprintersguild.com.

If you would like to see Scott's images available in our Online Gallery, please click here.

Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee: 2008 Shows and Events

Smith and Chamlee will have their large platinum contact prints exhibited at the Wach Gallery booth at the AIPAD Photography Show New York, April 10-13. Chamlee's prints are 24" x 30" and are printed on hand-made Japanese Taizan paper; Smith's prints are 16" x 40" and are printed on Arches Platine. Smith's color photographs from his Inmates series will be exhibited by the Fay Gold Gallery at the AIPAD Photography Show New York in April.

Through the ART in Embassies Program of the U. S. Department of State, Chamlee's photographs from her High Plains Farm series will be exhibited for three years at the American Embassy in Bogota, Columbia. Her photographs will be reproduced in the ART in Embassies Exhibition Catalog.

You can meet Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee at their Lodima Press booth at the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) Conference in Denver, Colorado on March 14 and 15, and again at the Foto3 Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, June 6-8, where Paula will be delivering a talk and doing portfolio reviews.

Smith and Chamlee will open their studio to the public as part of the Elephant's Eye-Bucks County Artist Studio Tour, May 9-11 and 17-18. Visit www.elephantseyetour.org for details.

Smith and Chamlee have been commissioned to photograph particular aspects of Chicago. A book of this work will be published at the end of 2009.

To see Michael A. Smith's contact prints available through the Guild, please visit our Online Gallery.

Gerald Pisarzowski is teaching a two-day platinum-printing workshop April 19-20 at Big Camera Workshops in Burlington, Ontario. This workshop is limited to a maximum of eight students, allowing all participants hands-on experience with mixing emulsions, coating paper and exposing and developing the image.

Other topics to be covered include negative development, selecting paper, scanning negatives and making inkjet negatives. Please go to Big Camera Workshops for more details.

"Mulmar Tree ON" (above) is one of Gerry's 4x5 platinum/palladium prints available through the Guild's Online Gallery. To see more of his images, please click here.

Ray Bidegain and Patrick Kolb will be teaming up with workshop veteran Jeanette Altman July 10-13 for a four-day platinum/palladium workshop. This is an expansion of the popular three-day workshop series by Ray and Patrick. Additions to the agenda will be the study of tailoring a film negative to the platinum/palladium process, crafting a film negative for scanning, the scanning of the negative for platinum/palladium, and tailoring a digital negative to platinum/palladium printing. Their workshop will encompass all of this, as well as spending two days demystifying the platinum/palladium process. This very hands-on workshop will again be on the Washington State University campus in Vancouver, WA. Tuition for the four-day class will be only $395, and the group will be limited to a maximum of ten students. Look for additional information in future newsletters and on Ray's workshop page.

There are still a few spots remaining in Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee's Iceland Workshop at the beginning of July. See www.michaelandpaula.com for details.