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Customer Profile

Jess T. Dugan – Customer Profile

August 8, 2023 by Digital Silver Imaging

Book cover "Every Breath We Drew" by Jess T. Dugan
Book cover “Every Breath We Drew” by Jess T. Dugan

Jess T. Dugan was born in 1986 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Their work explores identity and gender through several mediums, namely photography, video, and writing. They received their MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago, their Master of Liberal Arts in Museum Studies from Harvard University, and their BFA in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Dugan has had a wildly successful fine art career thus far, with works in the permanent collections of over 50 museums. At only 37 years old, Dugan’s work hangs proudly in The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the International Center of Photography, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Library of Congress – just to name a few.

Book Cover "Look at me like you love me" by Jess T. Dugan
Book Cover “Look at me like you love me” by Jess T. Dugan

Jess has published a few different projects as photography books as well. Most recently, Look at me like you love me was released last year, and marked their first time publishing with MACK. This career milestone brought even more notoriety to the body of work, which has been ongoing for nearly eight years. The images reflect on desire, intimacy, companionship, and the way that these emotions have the potential to rule our lives. Dugan combines self portraiture with portraits of individuals and couples, and includes still lifes and personal writing as well. Viewers are tasked to consider all of the moving parts that encompass a life, their own and others.

Previously, Jess put out To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults, in collaboration with Vanessa Fabbre. The body of work was published with Kehrer Verlag in 2018, and emphasized the visibility of a generation who blazed trails for the entire community. The sitters speak candidly about their individual experiences, and their words accompany their images. The release of the book marked the end of a project that began in 2013, and the work has received abundant praise since. To Survive on This Shore has been on view all around the country, from Portland to Provincetown.

Their first book, Every Breath We Drew, was published in 2015 by Daylight Books, and combines self portraiture with portraits of others. In a study of queer experience and actively constructed masculinity, these portraits examine the intersection between individual identity and the search for connection and intimacy. The settings are typically very personal, such as the interior of the subject’s kitchen or bedroom, creating a deeper connection with the careful consideration of each portrait.

J. Sybylla Smith had the pleasure of interviewing Jess on her podcast “Got Punctum,” and writes:

“Jess Dugan utilizes their skilled observation and keen awareness of the dynamics of portraiture to pose questions on love, loss, risk, trust and belonging. Sixty poetic images possessed of affection and agency, are intermixed with poignant and highly personal prose, to create an object of beauty and an accompaniment to the trials and triumphs of a fully lived life.”

Post by Josie Rybczyk

Filed Under: Customer Profile, News Tagged With: Jess t. Dugan

Digitally Capturing Elliot Erwitt’s Photo Archive

March 2, 2021 by Andrea

Scott Nidermaier and Elliot Erwitt review a digitally captured image
Scott and Elliot Erwitt review digital captures.

Elliott Erwitt’s many photographs have become part of the world’s visual vernacular. His images for Look, Life, and Magnum capture a world of humor, beauty and irony. His prolific output has filled over 20 published books, with a new book just released in 2021. Elliott’s prints are in virtually every major museum collection in the US and abroad. At the age of 92, Elliott Erwitt hasn’t slowed down much, he’s involved in a variety of projects and working on his archive.

Elliott Erwitt’s archive is where Digital Silver Imaging comes into the picture. Rick Smolan, former Time and National Geographic photographer and Elliott’s son-in-law, came to us with an idea for on-site film digitization. He said that Elliott was reluctant to have his archive leave the studio—a concern widely shared by other photographers—so high resolution on-site high resolution image capture would be ideal. Within In a few short months we had sourced the required high resolution equipment, hired PhaseOne and CaptureOne expert Scott Nidermaier, and formed the Digital Silver Imaging On-site Image Preservation Service™.

view of elliot erwitt's studio
On a chilly Sunday afternoon, Scott and DSI’s Eric Luden got to work digitizing Elliott’s archive. Over the course of the next several days the pair would set up in Elliott Erwitt’s studio and rapidly capture some 3,400 negatives and transparencies. For some photographers such an undertaking could take months or even years, but utilizing our On-site Image Preservation Service™ the job was completed in under three weeks. At the core of the system we utilize a high resolution digital camera mounted with a flat field lens. This method of digital capture produces drum scan quality images with a click of the shutter. Unlike drum scanning, this process minimizes contact between film and machine, dramatically reducing the risk of scratching or damage.

Scott has emphasized that each job is different and attentive preparation is the key to a smooth digital archiving process. The On-site Image Preservation Service™ operates on the principle that every archive is unique, and we customize the service to fit the needs of each client.

elliott erwitt negative strip in holder
Negative strip loaded into “touchless” magnetic holder and ready for digital capture

Much of the credit for the efficient digitization of Elliott’ Erwitt’s archive goes to his studio manager, Mio Nakamura, who organized the film by box, contact sheet, and negative with a corresponding spreadsheet, so there was no confusion about which images to capture. With the digitization of Elliott’s prized images now complete, his entire film archive will be housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. It’s a comfort to know that Elliott’s film will be preserved in perpetuity.

elliott erwitt digital capture on computer monitor
Reviewing a capture

Looking back on Elliott’s project, Scott reflected, “It was fascinating to see a sheet of great negatives and wonder why Elliott picked one negative over another. Also, we digitized many images of family that obviously had personal significance to Elliott. Elliot Erwitt lived with a camera in his hand. Sure the Marilyn Monroe and celebrity images are amazing, but there are so many great images that have never been seen before. It makes you realize that archiving is not just about a financial legacy, it’s a personal legacy. It tells you so much about the life of the artist.”

door bell of elliot erwitt enterprizesDigital Silver Imaging is grateful to Elliott Erwitt, Mio Nakamura and Rick Smolan for inviting us to collaborate on this important project. We feel that we played a role in photo history, providing a service to one of the greatest living photographers.

If you are interested in our On-site Image Preservation Service™ please contact Scott Nidermaier at scott@digitalsilverimaging.com.

Filed Under: Case Studies, Customer Profile, DSI-News Tagged With: elliott erwitt

Doug Menuez and Sandro Miller on Staying Relevant as Professional Photographers

June 27, 2019 by Andrea

Doug Menuez & Sandro Miller ©Doug Menuez's Leica
Doug Menuez & Sandro Miller ©Doug Menuez’s Leica

Doug Menuez and Sandro Miller continue to be creative, successful, and relevant after almost 40 years in the business of photography. On June  22, 2019, Doug Menuez and Sandro Miller generously shared volumes of valuable and entertaining information in an event hosted by Digital Silver Imaging and PhotoPolitic™. About 30 photographers and industry professionals gathered in Sandro’s beautiful Chicago studio. Also present was special guest Jim Stallman Senior VP and Creative Director of Leo Burnett and four industry movers and shakers, Patrick Rynell, EVP/ECD, Ainara Del Valle, ACD/AD, Jennifer Meinders, ACD/AD, Jon Lueken, Sr. Producer.

So how do these successful photographers define “The Art and Science of Staying Relevant?” The take away is condensed into these few brief paragraphs.

Stay Creative

Personal Projects | Pro Bono Work | Fine Art | Get out of your comfort zone

Both Doug Menuez and Sandro Miller pursue personal work as part of their work/life balance. Doug believes that working with nonprofit organizations can give an editorial photographer like himself the ability to photograph new and interesting subjects with fewer limitations. Doug has also published 4 books, most notably Fearless Genius, his unprecedented documentation of the digital revolution. Fearless Genius was #1 on the Amazon Bestseller list and it continues to provide exposure as a multimedia project, film, and a traveling exhibition of prints all produced by Digital Silver Imaging. 

Sandro Miller’s expansive personal work often starts with a project that becomes an entire large format fine art book. Projects like the one he did with John Malkovich or his trips to Cuba became books and many of the images end up as fine art prints for gallery sales and exhibitions. Although Sandro has a distinct style, and can be considered a portraitist, he is constantly finding new paths and subjects for his work.

Sandro’s spacious studio ©Andrea Zocchi

Stay Organized

Make a business plan | Strategically target your customers

According to Doug Menuez what put him on the path to success was a solid business plan and the discipline to stick to it. Both photographers emphasized that having the business acumen and the right people in that field was invaluable. Sandro Miller stressed focusing your promotional efforts on a manageable group of targeted clients/agencies and galleries. Casting too broad a net often doesn’t work and can result in work the photographer is not excited about executing. Miller stated that he focuses on about 20 potential customers at a time.

Refreshments ©Doug Menuez
Refreshments ©Doug Menuez

Stay Above the Crowd

Use prints and printed media to stand out

The consensus was that regular posts on social media were necessary but didn’t necessarily get you work. Doug said that one of his most successful and expensive promotions was his “F…You Book.” It was a portfolio of work he loved (not work that everyone advised him to show, that’s where the “F…You” comes in). He said that this piece got him more and better jobs than any other promotions.

The advice from Sandro was to send a signed print, as he said, “People just can’t throw away a signed print.” He also uses his books as a way to rekindle art director and ad agency interest in what he’s doing. Both photographers have an active fine art presence, with gallery representation and the print sales supplementing their income and increasing their exposure.

Jim Stallman Senior VP and Creative Director of Leo Burnett echoed what both photographers said. He underlined the point that as a creative director he is overwhelmed with emails and electronic communications. His advice was to do something tangible that shows your own creative genius, something that represents you, not what you think someone wants to see.

Stay Informed

Research your customers | Know the brand | Be prepared for the shoot

Before you start a job, or start to promote your work to a client, know what they do. In editorial, documentary, or product work the research is the first step. Sandro stated that he might shoot for an entire week before the actual photo session is scheduled. In the preceding week he will test lighting, concepts and other aspects before the client arrives in studio. Dig deep, acquire knowledge and be prepared.

Portfolio reviews were an optional component ©Doug Menuez
Portfolio reviews were an optional component ©Doug Menuez

Stay Personal and Connected

Pick up the phone | Meet people | Attend Events

Doug Menuez, Sandro Miller, and Jim Stallman all agreed that photography is all about making personal connections and keeping them fresh. Don’t send an email if you can call the person by phone. Expanding your community in person makes you memorable. Knowing that you can work with a person and they can work with you makes all the difference. 

This also extends to the photo shoot itself. Don’t just start blasting away. Talk to your subject. Again both photographers emphasized the pre-shoot preparation. If you know your subject you can make conversation and the shoot will be more successful.

We hope that PhotoPolitic™, Doug Menuez and Sandro Miller will choose to repeat this event in the future. It might be the best $189 dollars that you can spend on your career. We’d like to thank Doug Menuez, Sandro Miller and Jim Stallman as well as Chris Armstrong from PhotoPolitic™ for asking us to play a small part. The entire day was videoed and is available to PhotoPolitic™ members. To stay informed about future events follow us, Digital Silver Imaging and PhotoPolitic™ on social media.

Filed Under: Customer Profile, DSI-News, General News, News, Uncategorized Tagged With: Doug Menuez, Jim Stallman, PhotoPolitic, Sandro Miller

Barry Schneier – Bruce Springsteen Kickstarter

July 6, 2018 by Andrea

We have had the good fortune to print Barry Schneier’s 1974 Bruce Springsteen concert images for many years. Barry’s images are moving and historic. They provide a record of the discovery of Springsteen and the declaration by rock critic, Jon Landau, “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” 

The images have been exhibited at venues like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Monmouth University as well as sold through the Morrison Hotel Gallery. However Barry wanted to tell the entire story of that special night at the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge Massachusetts, and what better way than in a book. This is where the Kickstarter campaign, Bruce Springsteen. Rock and Roll Future. The Book. starts.

To create the book Schneier partnered with Backstreets Magazine’s Chris Phillips. Following the lead of many other photo books they decided to skip traditional publishers and go directly to the Springsteen fans via Kickstarter. To make his Kickstarter special, Barry wanted to offer more than just the book so he came into the lab and developed a plan to our DSI Digital Silver Prints® as a premium for higher pledge levels. Of course we said yes and we worked on a price that would allow Barry to meet his Kickstarter goals.

Barry finally decided to offer a variety of images at different sizes depending on the pledge level. The highest pledge level would receive a 16×20 DSI Digital Fiber Print® of his Sound Check Take Two image and a signed copy of the book 

 

“Sound Check. Take Two” ©Barry Schneier

Barry’s Kickstarter Project is a Hit

At the writing of this post, Bruce Springsteen. Rock and Roll Future. The Book., Kickstarter campaign has 7 days to go and will exceed its campaign goal by over 150%. 14 backers have pledge at the highest level $575 (book + 16×20 print), and other levels offering prints have over 148 backers. That makes almost as many backers choosing a book + print pledge as book alone. After all the book is all about the photographs, and it makes sense that an actual print adds a tremendous amount of value to a highly collectable book.

Work with us to make your project a success

Digital Silver Imaging is happy to work with photographers and artists to provide printing for Kickstarter, and other crowd sourced projects. We know that crowd sourcing is about promotion and bringing art directly to the public. We want to support you in your crowd sourced idea whether that’s a book or some other project. Contact us anytime to start the conversation.

Did you know that Digital Silver Imaging perfected the DSI Digital Silver Print® with a Kickstarter campaign? Follow this link to read all about it.

Filed Under: Case Studies, Customer Profile

2016 Outstanding Year for DSI Customers

February 14, 2017 by Digital Silver Imaging

©Iaritza Menjivar - First Generation
©Iaritza Menjivar

2016 was an outstanding year for Digital Silver Imaging’s customers. This is an incomplete list of some of the projects we printed. We want to thank ALL our clients for allowing us to bring their images to print. The most rewarding part of our job at Digital Silver Imaging is collaborating with such an interesting and talented community of photographers. Thank you for a fun and productive 2016.

Tess Atkinson – Art Colony Exhibition

Dawoud Bey – Early Photographs at the Stephen Daiter Gallery

Mathieu Bitton – Darker Than Blue Exhibition, Leica Gallery LA

Sheila Pree Bright –  Look3 and Candela Gallery in Richmond VA

Debi Cornwall – Gitmo at Home, Gitmo at Play, Gitmo on Sale, UARTS, STUMP, Candela Gallery

Sean Hemmerle – Paris Photo for Julian Sander Gallery

http://www.parisphoto.com/paris/artists/sean-hemmerle

Anthony Hernandez – Paris Photo for Thomas Zander Gallery

Thomas Hoepker – Camera Works Berlin

Kamoinge – Breaking Point Exhibition

Mark Mann – Lucha Libre Exhibition

Iaritza Menjivar – Iaritza is our own Social Media Marketing Assistant. Keep an eye on this talented photographer, she’s a rising star. – First Generation Exhibition, New York Times Lens Blog,

Maciek Nabrdalik – Exhibition Crossing Gallery Harvard

Mark and Eric Norbom – Time’s Hand Exhibition

Stacy Pearsal – Veterans Portrait Project

Mark Peterson – Political Theatre Exhibition

Linda Foard Roberts – A Place in Time, The Ogden Museum

Mark Robinson – New Moon Rises, Smithsonian Museum Exhibition

Ruddy Roye Image
©Ruddy Roye

Ruddy Roye – Look3, When Living is a Protest Steven Kasher Gallery, Time’s Instagram Photographer of the Year 2016 

WPOW – Women Photojournalists of Washington exhibition at the National Geographic for FotoDC

Please let us know
As mentioned, this is an incomplete list. If we made a print that appeared in a show or was purchased by a museum or collection please send us an email, or let us know when you place your print order. We love to feature our customers on our Facebook and Instagram sites.

Filed Under: Customer Profile, General News, News Tagged With: customers

A Different Way of Printing a Pulitzer Prize Winner

January 2, 2017 by Digital Silver Imaging

©Stanley Forman
©Stanley Forman

Stanley Forman’s Pulitzer Prize winning photo, The Soiling of Old Glory, remains iconic, decades after it was captured. A white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting a black lawyer and civil rights activist, Ted Landsmark, seconds before he is struck with an American flag. The attack took place on April 5, 1976, during a protest in Boston against court-ordered desegregation of school busing.

Although this image has been viewed by thousands, the complete story of making the photograph had never been told, until Eric Luden at DSI had the idea of printing the entire negative strip.

The Pulitzer moment was nearly missed, when every press photographer’s nightmare occurred, equipment failure. The Boston Herald photographer struggled with his equipment, and managed to free the jammed film just in time to capture Rakes in the despicable act.

Digitally scanning the strip of 35mm film, shows the equipment malfunction and the one perfect image. Digital Silver Imaging made DSI Digital Silver Prints® of both the Pulitzer image and the film. Both are matted and framed and available for sale from Stanley’s website.

Filed Under: Customer Profile

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9 Brighton Street
Belmont, MA 02478
617-489-0035
email us
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Hours: 9–5:30 Monday–Friday

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