Digital Silver Imaging

The Science of Art

October 17, 2011 by Digital Silver Imaging

Howard Schatz refers to his studio as a research laboratory. Before a single image is
captured an extensive production is engineered with details on the sun, wind, and water
conditions, exact placement of invisible markers and an artful application of industrial
strength make-up. Only then do Howard, his assistants, stylists and models strap on
weights, hyperventilate and jump into a 92 degree pool of crystal clear water for a timed
minute of silence and rapture; repeatedly, all day long.

Howared-Schatzinderwtrstudy3223 — © Howard Schatz, Courtesy of Staley Wise Gallery

Listening to Howard describe his work is as delightful and incredulous as the imagery
created in his Underwater Study Series. The Griffin Museum/DSI gallery was beyond
SRO with people sitting in the aisles and up the staircase to view his slideshow
presentation and hear his gallery talk. On view through November 6th are five images
from H2O his third book published from this body of work.

A swimmer, competitive tennis player and until the 1990’s, a retinal surgeon, Schatz,
has an eager curiosity and intrepid passion. With joy and determination he manipulates
the limits of biology to capture the fancy of his relentless imagination – underwater.
Riveted by the properties of light and water that mirror and distort Howard sees infinite
possibility.

Vanity Fair features his ongoing series; In Character: Actors Acting. With lens posed
inches from an accomplished actors face, he immortalizes their instantaneous
interpretation of his scripted synopsis written to illicit their intense emotion. Howard
loves to be on the observing edge, catching creation and life with awe and wonder.

Fresh off the press last week is his 18th book. With Child is the culmination of 20
years of photographing women in all stages of pregnancy. Defying gravity he explores
the living sculpture that is gestation. Schatz has met yearly with these mother’s and
their children for a portrait. Each child is given age appropriate questions exploring
how they feel about their life at that stage. A hybrid of conceptual art and humanistic
therapy these missives are collected in a time capsule without being read or published.
Effectively, Harold is mirroring pregnancy itself.

Splashdown!

October 5, 2011 by Digital Silver Imaging

Torrential rains did little to dampen the energy or crowd gathered to celebrate our new South End location and Boston Fashion Week. Over two hundred visitors made Splashion their destination.

The crowd spilled into our courtyard out back and the front side walk. A Street Frames loaned space for a portrait gallery where Nathan Fried Lipski playfully captured guests sporting neon green pool tubes or their own array of umbrellas. Check our website for a gallery of opening shots.

This effervescent group show spans 70 years of editorials featuring water and fashion by 8 international artists. The first nude to be published in Harper’s Bazaar in 1935 was shot by

Hungarian photographer Martin Mankasci. Known for taking women out of the studio he heralded modernism and the notion of beauty in motion.

“Today the world of what is called fashion is peopled with Mankacsi’s babies, his heirs.” according to Richard Avedon.

German post-war photographer F.C. Gunlach and Martine Franck, one of the first women to join Magnum, are included with vintage silver gelatin prints on loan from the Howard Greenberg Gallery.

New York-based, Jodi Jones, fresh from shooting a backstage story on NY Fashion Week shoots

designer ad campaigns including a NYTimes billboard. Boston photographers Sadie Dayton, Bob Packert and Conor Doherty shared bold, new work. Find them in publications including Vanity Fair, W, Time, The New York Times, Boston Magazine, Boston Common and online in international webzines including Spirited/US, Complexed/China and Labb/UK.

Vanity Fair contributing photographer, Howard Schatz, built an underwater studio and published his underwater study series in three books: Water Dance, Pool Light and H2O. Exhibited are five images that exemplify his range of capturing the mystical to expressing wit and power. His work is featured in Vogue, Vogue Italia and GQ Italia.

October 13th Howard Schatz conducts our gallery talk from 7 – 8:30 PM at 4 Clarendon Street Boston. He will sign copies of, H2O and his latest book, With Child. Join us!

Anne Berry Fine Art Photography

August 8, 2011 by Digital Silver Imaging

We are please to feature the work of Anne Berry. Anne is a fine art photographer based in Atlanta, GA. She has received numerous awards for her work and has been working with Digital Silver Imaging for over a year.

“In today’s society pets are pampered and anthropomorphized, but animals are often overlooked and dismissed. My photographs are about the beauty of animals but, more importantly, about their plight. The pictorial quality of these images softens the shock, but the punch is there in the eyes and expressions of the animals. I anticipate the moment that I can capture something in the essence of an animal, so that through the photograph it speaks. Each animal begs the viewer to consider his place in a world where bulldozers are rapidly destroying animal habitats; he is an ambassador for all the animals in his species My work is currently featured in the Center for Fine Art Photography’s Black and White exhibit, and I am honored that Catherine Edelman chose Singe Noir (Black Monkey) as Juror’s Selection Runner Up: “The photograph captured the unquestionable link between ape and man in a way I have never seen.”

“My materials are a combination of old and new. I now capture the image digitally, but my habits are from shooting film: I do not look at the display screen, and I focus manually. I convert the image to black and white and manipulate it as I would in the darkroom, dodging, burning, and creating photomontages. The black and white medium is central to my vision. It helps me select only what is essential. Without color, form becomes the most important tool. Also, the absence of color removes the image from reality and helps to emphasize the spiritual value. The animal becomes not a document of reality but an archetype of universal significance. I especially love the quality and mood of true silver gelatin prints. There is a depth in these prints that pigment prints cannot create. I am excited to have found Eric Luden and Digital Silver Imaging.”

All You Need is Love

July 21, 2011 by Digital Silver Imaging

The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell

Photographer Mike Mitchell is getting well deserved rest and deep satisfaction after last night’s auction of his work at Christie’s in New York. His iconic collection of 46 silver gelatin prints sold for over $350,000, well above the estimated value of $100,000. Mike was one of a few photographers who captured The Beatles on their first US concert, just 2 days after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The hero image, shot from behind with stunning light and radiating an intimate happiness of the Fab Four, sold for $55,000.

The SRO crowd maintained a party atmosphere with a tangible sense of excitement and joy at seeing this iconic collection come to life after being dormant for almost 50 years. Rapid fire bidding ensued over several desirable images with a global reach being managed by phone and on line. Auctioneer Cathy Elkies carried encouraging men to not consult with their wives and deadpanned “I smell a divorce coming on” as bidding broke 10K, then 20K.

DSI was thrilled Mitchell chose us to print these silver gelatin prints. Our production staff worked diligently to bring every digital tool to bare to create rock star results. Mitchell decided to limit production to one print and devised a moniker, or stamp, which he embedded in each image. We were excited to be the first to see these prints and we take this privilege very seriously. We state up front our ethic which is to uphold and protect the creative rights of all our clients. We were so pleased to be in the audience and cheer with the crowd as each image found its new and rightful owner. Congratulation Mike!

The Associated Press broke a story about the auction shortly after the auction closed. You can also view Mike’s interview in London at the Grovenor House Hotel at the preview exhibition last June.

Mississippi Healing: 20 Printed and Framed Photos Fast

June 29, 2011 by Digital Silver Imaging

Overview

For the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders’ historic trip, the Mississippi Governor and his wife hosted a breakfast in the honor of the Freedom Riders at the Governor’s Mansion. For the occasion Marianne Todd, the official photographer for Governor and Mrs. Haley Barbour, was asked to assemble an exhibition of black and white images titled “Mississippi Healing.” The exhibition featured images of the trial of reputed Klansman Edgar Ray Killen and the Freedom Riders who came to support the victims in the case.

Problems: Creating a quality black and white photography exhibition on a budget. Transporting and storing 20 framed photographs economically.

When Marianne contacted Digital Silver Imaging she was interested in fiber base black and white prints. Her intention was to do the framing locally. She had been recommended to Digital Silver Imaging for printing by a fellow photographer but was unaware of DSI’s experience in working with artists and galleries to mount exhibitions.

Solutions: Artcare prefabricated frames and mats, Custom shipping / storage container

We discussed the challenges presented by the “Mississippi Healing” exhibition; need for the highest quality prints, quick turnaround and a tight budget. The solution came by providing images in two formats 8×12 and 11×17 fiber prints, ten of each size.

Economy was achieved by utilizing the prefabricated Nielsen Artcare frames with precut archival mats. No aesthetic compromise needed to be made because the Artcare frames and mats are museum quality, plus they look terrific. They also use high quality UV glass for image longevity.

The next hurdle was shipping. The exhibition would be a gift to the State of Mississippi. After the exhibition ended, the images would need to be stored or transported to another location for display. Originally Ms. Todd wanted a crate constructed to contain the images. This option proved to be too costly and much too heavy to transport without some kind of mechanical aid. The solution was to construct 2 special boxes made of double walled corrugated acrdoard and lined with foam core.

The finished boxes are extremely sturdy and reusable. Because they weigh much less than a wooden crate the shipping cost is much lower, without any special size and weight considerations. A capable adult can move either box.

After the exhibition Marianne sent DSI this message: “Thank you so much for everything. The printing was beautifully done, and the framing was perfect. Loved the shipping, too. I can easily see why my friend recommended you all.”

Seeing Outside the Box

June 8, 2011 by Digital Silver Imaging

Jason Landry’s salons at Panoptican Gallery introduce new artists to the photographic community in an intimate setting. Those fortunate to attend were given a host of conceptual treats by a talented group of fine artists.

Holding an original image or object while exploring with the the artist their creative process is a rare joy and can stir the soul. If a tree falls in a vacant forest does it make a noise? Does art need the eyes of a viewer to complete it’s tale? What defines a photograph?

Charred candy boxes become beautiful treasures by Oregon-based artist Heidi Kirkpatrick. A playful alchemist, she melds her elegant photographs with found objects to create inviting sensual trinkets meant to be fondled. Mahjong chips, toy blocks and ash trays become incarnate.

Evocative “photo objects” by local artist, Jesseca Ferguson, are images of thoughtfully detailed and assembled collages taken with a pin-hole camera then contact printed by hand onto artist paper by a 19th century process. Ferguson’s muse is our collective and personal “private interior library” – memory.

Jennifer Hudson creates elaborate installations from detailed drawings that come alive in beautifully staged portraits on location and in the studio. Minimally enhanced in post production her haunting series reflect complex concepts deeply mined and stunningly executed.

Alexander Harding is captivated by water and has caught it in multiple guises in detailed glossy color images calling us to be co-detectives uncovering their source. Harding’s Visible Light series studies light with the same curious and respectful eye, challenging us to really see what is before our eyes with newness, clarity and reverence.

©Diane Epstein

Rome is home and subject for photographer Diane Epstein. Her large format “fresco” style images blend multiple strata’s of Italian architecture, panoramic vistas and design details into painterly celebrations of time and place. Epstein recreates the mood of historic narrative paintings in her contemporary form of fine art.

The lens on Keith Johnson’s camera has got to be square. He sees and presents what catches his fancy in razor sharp grid formation. Like an eagle scanning for prey he teases out incessant patterns that surround us but elude the less observant.

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