Andrea

DSI Team Member, Nick Ortoleva, Featured in Lenscratch

October 13, 2026 by Andrea

©Nick Ortoleva, Looking Over the Hills, Towards the Lonely Tree

Digital Silver Imaging team member, Nick Ortoleva, was selected for a prestigious Photographic Resource Center Mentorship Program with the photographer Tommy Kha. We want to congratulate Nick and post a link to Q&A style article in Lenscratch about Nick’s mentorship.

To read the article follow this link.

“I am deeply interested in the back and forth conversation between ethnic and cultural upbringing. Between the two , intergenerational storytelling is a way of connecting my past to my present and how I allow for connection to place to be fostered. What began as an exploration of birthplace and homeland has shifted into a larger mission focused on representation and documenting a complex visual experience between here and home. My work situates itself as a visual record within the diaspora and acts as an ongoing observational and participatory investigation on cultural and ethnic rituals, communal experience, connectedness, and isolation, all while reflecting on routines, past histories and storytelling.”

Nick Ortoleva

Customer Profile: Kevin Pineda Gould

June 4, 2026 by Andrea

Kevin Pineda Gould photograph. Image of woman in light of street lamp at night — ©Kevin Pineda Gould

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO by Kevin Pineda Gould -Hasidic man walking — ©Kevin Pineda Gould

New York City is, without exception, one of the world’s greatest cities. Glamorous, iconic, tough, and gritty, it has inspired scores of artists. On a voyage of “self-discovery,” Kevin Pineda Gould left his home in Mexico to expand his horizons as a sound engineer in Manhattan. Then the pandemic hit and everything changed.

Needing a creative outlet, he picked up his girlfriend’s camera and began to wander the streets. That simple action has led to a body of photographic work, a book, and an established practice as a street photographer.

Pineda Gould’s images are distinctive, each carrying his unmistakable stamp of chiaroscuro intensity. He gravitates toward light most photographers would avoid—a spectrum of hard contrast and deep shadow. That palette makes his monochrome images mysterious, at times ominous, and always dramatic. He tips his hand to his inspirations in his social media posts, pairing images with music that evokes film noir and the classic black-and-white movies of Hitchcock and John Huston.

We have been fortunate to work with Kevin on a variety of projects, starting with black-and-white silver gelatin prints for his book, “Discovering Light.” The book itself is an impressive achievement, containing 66 stunning images, offset printed and beautifully designed by Simi Mahtani of Studio Simi Inc.. Pineda Gould takes the viewer on a visual journey through a New York that is a compilation of imagined narratives, with forms emerging from the shadows—materializing out of steam, fog, and hidden corners into shafts of light.

Interior book page - Discovering Light by Kevin Pineda Gould — Interior book page – “Discovering Light” by Kevin Pineda Gould

Not surprisingly, Kevin is also trained in film production, which brings us to the “why” of this post. We ran into him at the celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the first production Leica camera in New York. Digital Silver Imaging had printed a retrospective of historic images made with Leica cameras, and we were a partner in the events taking place on Gansevoort Square. During the weekend, Kevin mentioned he had an upcoming exhibition and wanted to make a short film around the print production. Of course we said yes. The resulting short exceeded our expectations with its beautiful imagery and poetic exploration of the power of the print.

The video begins with the statement by Kevin, “printing gives light a place to live.” The video accompanies this post, so you can enjoy it yourself and see the scale of Kevin’s print. The print is an Aluma Mount—a pigment print mounted to an aluminum composite known as DIBOND®. The finished print then receives a professional application of our Transparent UV Protective Coating. This seals the microporous surface of the print, protecting it from atmospheric pollutants and fingerprints. The coating also adds a UV inhibitor that extends the life of the print.

We believe Kevin is an emerging photographer of note. If you want to find out more about Kevin Pineda Gould or follow him on social media, we have included links below. His book is available for sale via this link, and he also he also conducts one-on-one street photography workshops and can be contacted through his website.

Thanks, Kevin, for the wonderful video—we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Creating the Portrait of America Exhibition and Box Set

May 13, 2026 by Andrea

Eric assembling the Catchlight folio of prints "Portrait of America Box Set" — Eric assembling the Catchlight folio of prints “Portrait of America Box Set”

What do you do when you have 20 large-format prints, four cities, two continents, and no budget for crates, cases, or freight? That was the challenge facing Catchlight Foundation and Digital Silver Imaging earlier this year — and the solution turned out to be one of the most elegant exhibition designs we’ve ever put together.

The Foundation and the Ask

Catchlight is an international foundation with an ambitious mission: to advance the power of documentary photography and support the visual storytellers doing that work. Early this year, Catchlight’s VP of Development, Erica Garber, reached out to ask if Digital Silver Imaging could help bring their “Portrait of America” exhibition to life — a collection of images by recent Catchlight Fellows. We said yes without hesitation.

Our involvement came in two ways.

Catchlight Portrait of America Exhibition at KQED San Francisco — The exhibition needed the flexibility to be displayed in a variety of locations. In San Francisco it was displayed by hanging the prints with 3M Command Strips on the windows of a large room at KQED San Francisco.

Building an Exhibition That Could Go Anywhere

Hanging the Catchlight exhibition at KQED San Francisco

DSI printed all 20 images pro bono, with paper generously provided by Hahnemühle USA. The prints ranged from 36″ wide to 60″ tall — substantial work that demanded to be seen at scale. The exhibition was scheduled to debut at the Catchlight Storytellers Summit on May 2, 2026 in San Francisco, then travel to Photo London, New York City, and Austin, Texas.

That travel itinerary created a serious problem. Framing, crating, and shipping a show this size across multiple cities and an ocean would have been prohibitively expensive for both organizations. The exhibition needed to move efficiently, affordably, and without risk of damage in transit.

The solution came from DSI’s Aluminum Print Hangers. All 20 prints were rolled into tubes, packed into a single Tenba Transport Rolling Tripod Grip Case — thanks to Peter from Tenba for their generosity in providing a discount — and checked as luggage on commercial flights. No freight forwarder. No crates. No customs nightmares.

At each venue, the prints were light enough to hang with 3M Command Strips, meaning installation required no special equipment or crew. The weight of each print with its Aluminum Print Hanger appears in the chart below.

The result is an exhibition that travels in one rolling case, can be installed in hours, and is built to last. If a print is ever damaged, it can be reprinted and replaced. The “Portrait of America” exhibition can return year after year simply by making new prints — a sustainable model that serves the foundation long into the future.

Catchlight Fundraiser Auction — Auctioning the Portrait of America Box Set

The Box Set That Moved the Room

Eric and Andrea wanted to do more than print the exhibition. Knowing that the Catchlight Storytellers Summit included a fundraising event, and having seen firsthand how a beautifully presented folio of prints can motivate donors, they proposed creating a folio of prints for the auction.

Erica Garber loved the idea. Nine images from the exhibition were selected and printed 13×19 on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta — a fiber-based paper chosen for its depth, luminosity, and archival quality. Andrea, a former art director, designed a colophon sheet for each set, and the folios were finished with the Catchlight logo. You can see a short video of the assembly process here.

We’ve been asked not to share the final numbers, but the five box sets exceeded expectations at the event. Great photography, beautiful printing, and thoughtful presentation have real value — and donors respond to all three.

View a short video of the folio of prints titled “Portrait of America Box Set”

Why Digital Silver Imaging Does This Work

Eric Luden founded Digital Silver Imaging in 2008, making a commitment to be an active participant in advancing the art and commerce of photography. He and his wife, J. Sybylla Smith, believed from the beginning that their business has a responsibility to that community — not just as a vendor, but as a genuine participant and supporter.

That commitment has taken many forms over the years: pro bono printing for Photoville, support for the Griffin Museum of Photography, partnerships with the Social Documentary Network, exhibitions hosted at the lab, internships for photography students, and donations to organizations ranging from SPE to the Veterans Portrait Project. Catchlight is part of that same continuum.

The “Portrait of America” exhibition and box set are a reminder of what’s possible when creative problem-solving, skilled craftsmanship, and shared values come together. We’re proud to have played a role.

Could your organization benefit from exhibition printing, traveling show solutions, or a folio for your next fundraiser?

Contact Digital Silver Imaging to talk through what’s possible. We work with nonprofits, galleries, and foundations of all sizes.

One of the many nonprofit photography organizations that Digital Silver Imaging supports is the Catchlight Foundation.

The Catchlight Foundation has been providing, through funded grants, documentary photographers to local news organizations around the country. They also sponsor International Fellows with a grant so they may pursue long term documentary projects. Digital Silver Imaging has been supporting Catchlight since the naming of their first International Fellows in 2017.

2026 DSI Monochrome Award Debuts at SPE Atlanta

April 13, 2026 by Andrea

LtoR Eric Luden, Priya Kambli, Andrea Zocchi — LtoR: Eric Luden, Priya Kambli – DSI Monochrome Award Winner, and Andrea Zocchi

The Society of Photographic Education (SPE) conference in Atlanta, GA, on March 19–21, 2026, saw the debut of the first DSI Monochrome Award. We created this award after SPE Executive Director Toni Roberts was engaged in a discussion with Digital Silver Imaging on how to best highlight a photo educator whose work centered on black & white imagery and printmaking.

Andrea Zocchi, a partner at DSI, said, “This is Digital Silver Imaging’s way to support the educational community while featuring the vibrant art of black and white image making.”

The submissions for the award were judged by two prestigious jurors, Jess T. Dugan and Karen E. Haas. Jess T. Dugan is an artist and writer whose work “explores the complexities of personhood, relationships, desire, love, and family through photography, film, writing, and drawing.” Karen E. Haas is the Lane Senior Curator of Photographs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her extensive curatorial résumé makes her one of the most influential figures in contemporary photography.

The DSI Monochrome Award will be given to photographic educators who demonstrate excellence in black and white photography. The 2026 recipient received a $600 cash travel stipend to the Atlanta conference and a $2,500 certificate toward DSI Digital Silver® gelatin prints or high-resolution film digitization services. This enables recipients to make true silver gelatin prints directly from digital files or digitized film, from 8″x10″ to 40″x60″. Open to SPE community members serving as instructors, educators, or adjunct faculty, recipients will be selected based on quality and ability to use the medium in expressive, innovative, and/or thought-provoking ways.

And the winner! This first-ever award was won by Priya Kambli. She is a Professor of Art at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Kambli’s work explores the fragmentation of family, identity, and culture. She is the 2025 recipient of the Leica Women Foto Project Award, and her work also appears in A Yellow Rose Project.

Matt Eich and Eric Luden hold a DSI Digital Silver Print® of Matt Eich's black and white image. — Matt Eich and Eric Luden hold a DSI Digital Silver Print® of Matt Eich’s black and white image.

An honorable mention went to Matt Eich, an Associate Professor at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at George Washington University. Eich creates commissioned work for a range of clients and is the publisher of the independent imprint Little Oak.PRESS.

An honorable mention was also awarded to Rachel Cox. She is an Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Iowa’s School of Art, Art History, and Design. The work Cox submitted examines the cultural stigmas associated with female infertility.

DSI Digital Silver Prints® are real silver gelatin (silver halide) black & white prints on fiber base paper, made from the fusion of digital technology and traditional exposure/chemical printing. We use a Lightjet 430 laser printer to expose light-sensitive Ilford silver gelatin paper up to 50″ wide, then process the exposed paper in liquid photo chemistry.

Thanks to all who submitted work and to SPE and their dedicated membership.

What is better, Drum Scan Or Hi Resolution Digital Capture?

December 3, 2025 by Andrea

Our High Resolution Digital Capture using our Digital Heritage DT Atom large format digital camera system is better than drum scan. Our digitization system produces drum scan quality in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the price, and without the risk of damage to delicate film and originals. We can make this claim because we ran a test. The examples in this post show the same black & white negative reproduced by drum scan and by our digitization system. These are straight reproductions, just as they would be delivered with only the image inversion performed.

From the samples shown here, it is obvious that there is no qualitative difference between the two. This is amazing in that our High Resolution Digital Capture is 1/5 to 1/10 the price of most drum scans and it takes only 1/60 of a second, allowing for hundreds of high resolution captures to be executed in a day. To produce a similar drum scan the film is taped to a drum and coated with a specialized fluid. The drum scanner then rotates at high speed as it digitally records the image. The drum scanning process is not only expensive put introduces a variety of factors that could lead to damage of the original film. The Library of Congress does not consider drum scanning as an acceptable archiving solution because of the inherent dangers. Value, speed and safety makes our high resolution digital capture better than drum scans and the best way to digitize your valuable film and negatives.

To see how our system works follow this link to a video of the process.

b&w image of a hose coiled over a fence. Our High Resolution Digital Capture using our Digital Heritage DT Atom large format digital camera system is better than drum scan. — High Resolution Digital Capture – full frame

b&w image of hose coiled on a fence — Drum Scan – Full Frame

detail of hose coiled on a fence - Value, speed and safety makes our high resolution digital capture better than drum scans and the best way to digitize your valuable film and negatives. — High Resolution Digital Capture – Detail

detail of drum scan — Drum Scan – Detail

Important Holiday Shipping & Production Dates

November 27, 2025 by Andrea

Important Holiday Dates
12/3/25 – FRAMES, last day to order for arrival by the Christmas12/7/25 – FRAMES, last day to order to ship before Christmas, Does not guarantee arrival before Christmas12/7/25 – PRINTS, last day to order for arrival by Christmas12/14/25 – PRINTS, last day to order to ship before Christmas, Does not guarantee arrival before Christmas
12/25/25 – 1/2/26 – DSI Closed for the Holidays. Online ordering is always available.

Andrea

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