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[OM] B&W Manipulation - Art or Abstract

Subject: [OM] B&W Manipulation - Art or Abstract
From: AG Schnozz <agschnozz@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 13:58:13 -0700 (PDT)
Ansel Adams was well known for extreme measures when
manipulating a photograph.  Was this wrong?  Did he create an
"artifical" photograph?

I offer the premise that Black and White Photography, by its
very nature, is ABSTRACT.  By removing the color information the
brain immediately recognizes the fact that this is not a pure
representation of reality.  The "pure representation" is
provided for by our own interpretaton.  This is one thing that
makes B&W such a powerful medium because our memories provide
the details, emotions, sights, sounds and smells.  Radio Theatre
(a love of mine, don't get me started) is called "Theatre of the
Mind".  When done well, it is as enveloping of an experience as
can be had.  Why?  Because it plays with our minds.  B&W does
that by its very nature.

I mentioned a few weeks ago about how visual extremes are
established within moments when you walk into a room or
outdoors.  The eyes and brain establish High and Low values for
the environment and color correct the scene.  This is why we can
go from a high contrast mid-day jaunt to a florescent-lit office
space with extremely flat contrast without recognizing the fact
that the office is as flat as 3-day old Coke.

Contrast in flat-art (paintings, photographs, drawings, etc) is
established with either color or with varying degrees of
reflectance.  When we look at a photograph we have "entered a
new room". The eye-brain must establish the confines of the
environment of that "room" right away.  With color prints we
must stick within the boundaries of known colors, as the brain
will immediately reject pink grass.  B&W, without the baggage of
colors must just establish lightness and darkness extremes for
the eye-brain to define the context of the scene.  Even if the
grass was painted pink, the film captures it as gray and in our
minds we will see green.

In laymans terms:
    With Color we establish context with the mid-tones or known
values and colors.  A solid black in a color picture doesn't
define the picture, the mid-tone (or phantom mid-tone) does.
    With B&W we establish context with the extremes.  A picture
with just mid-tones is flat, lifeless and incomplete without
extreme high and low values to define the boundaries of the
photograph.  Tonal accuracy is not what defines a B&W print--you
must establish the context of that tonal range.

The establishment of tonal extremes--even if only in the
slightest amount is necessary to define the context of the
photograph.  We predominantly use contrast control to control
the extremes.  Tonal ranges are USUALLY controlled by exposure. 
Does that grass belong as a mid-tone or should it be 2-stops
over?  How do I know that the grass is a mid-tone and where that
mid-tone is without the establishment of the boundaries? 
Contrast and brightness work together and are not exclusively
one or the other.

Back to Ansel...

In his books, Ansel described the various processes and extremes
that he went through to produce a gallery-grade print.  Most of
it is standard "duh" stuff.  Match the contrast grade of the
paper to the contrast range of the film.  Manipulation?  No,
just plain calibration of the tools.  Dodging and burning is
interpretative stuff, but usually is used to better match the
paper and film to the desired contrast range.  In other words,
if we could control the lightness of a portion of the scene
during exposure, we would have--and do so through filters,
flash, reflectors, etc.  Bleach, etching, localized developer,
etc., are all tools used to adjust the final outcome of how many
photons hit the paper resulting in altered silvering.

In my TOPE Landscapes photograph of the old house, there is very
little dodging and burning.  I visualized the scene at time of
exposure and altered it through filters.  In the final darkroom
print (of which a fellow list member now has), the hard part was
calibrating the paper to the film (over-processed HP5 in Tmax
developer).  Once the calibration has taken place I turned to
the grass and wood to make sure that the tones landed where I
wanted them to.  If the grass was a bit too light, and it was, I
darkened it a touch with burning.

Did I create an Abstract photograph?  Yes, because it's a B&W
photograph.  Is the subject Abstract?  No.

There are few Ansel Adams photographs that could be defined as
Abstract photographs from the content.  Only the mechanism, the
delivery method, is abstract.

Like Ansel Adams, I use every trick in the book, WHEN NECESSARY,
to produce the desired results.  However, in all cases, the
technique should be invisible.  Contrast and exposure
manipulation is only used to produce a result, not be the
result.  Art students often mistake technique for subject.  

Let's take a look at one of Ansel Adams most famous famous
photographs:  Monolith.
    This photograph has been manipulated every step of the way. 
First of all, he used a view camera, a wide angle lens and
adjusted the rise to achieve the perspective he wanted. 
Secondly he used a red filter to darken the sky and add some
"drama" to the picture.  Then, in the darkroom he further
altered the image's exposure dynamics to create a masterpiece
that sparkles and yanks you right to the edge of a 300 foot
fall.  One can get vertigo just looking at that picture.
    Yet, is there any question that the subject is Half-Dome? 
Is there any question what season it is?  Is there any question
about the color of the trees?  Is there anything there that
defines the picture as anything but an accurate representation
of the scene?

AG-Schnozz

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