Black-and-White photography is cool

2011-10-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Kodak Supports Film Photography

2011-10-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Do you love great B&W photography? Go to www.bwphotopro.com

Kodak Supports Film Photography

Film is not dead.

Kodak introduced a new B&W film in 2007, and more recently made a (somewhat controversial) commitment to keeping a wide variety of large format and ultra-large-format films available. And while their outreach to and support for film photographers isn’t what it used to be, Kodak is still promoting and supporting the work of film shooters. We caught up with the man in charge of Kodak’s B&W films and film photographer support. Read the story below:

“People need ways to differentiate themselves as... photographers, and shooting film and moving up to medium format and large-format are great ways to set yourself apart from the digital crowd.” -- Scott DiSabato

Scott DiSabato, Kodak’s Marketing Manager for Professional Film

When we came across Michael Crouser’s terrific work we were surprised to learn that Kodak is still actively supporting film-based B&W photographers like Crouser.

We’d wrongly assumed that any sort of support for film shooters – especially for B&W film shooters -- was a thing of the long-ago past.

So we looked into it, and spoke at length with Scott DiSabato, Kodak’s Marketing Manager for Professional Film.

(Surprised there is still such a position? So were we, but he also works with labs that print digitally to Kodak’s photo paper, a business he says, “hasn’t suffered from the digital photographer revolution.”)

FILM IS STRONG

There is indeed good news for B&W film shooters, DiSabato says.

“In the past two years B&W film has emerged as largest part of the professional film portfolio, due to two things – a lot of color is of course, digital – but at same time we’ve seen relative strength in B&W film, from documentary work, photo education and fine art photographers. Silver gelatin just lends itself to the creation of art and documentary work. It is a fitting and suitable format for permanence, an artistically beautiful approach. B&W film opens up new areas of artistic expression and interpretation.”

DiSabato is optimistic about B&W in particular. “The sustainability of B&W film looks great; everyone’s had exposure to digital and would have gone that way if that’s the way that photography was calling to them.” Plus, it doesn’t hurt that B&W film can be easily processed by photographers, independently of a professional lab, he notes.

Even Kodak’s controversial decision to make many films above 4x5” in size into special-order-only products, produced only when sufficient hard orders have been accumulated, is good news, he asserts (read more about this, below).

How is that good news? It’s simple: “These large and ultra-large format films are still available, and we're now selling formats that haven't been produced for many years,” DiSabato says. Specifically, DiSabato says these sizes are now all available for special orders via Canham: 11x14, 20x24, 7x17, 12x20, 14x17, 5x7, 8x10, 16x20, 8x20.

NEW FILMS

There is also, “a credible indication that marketplace has rallied around Kodak’s’ vision of film in the digital age,” DiSabato says. The company has made substantial investments in the past 4-5 years in four brand-new photo pro emulsions, both B&W and color.

Most importantly for B&W shooters, in late 2007 Kodak introduced a new B&W film, T-Max 400, which DiSabato says looks more like a slower 200 ISO product. “T-Max 400’s grain structure is like that of a 200 speed T-Max (had such a film debuted in 1986), but at 400 ISO it has twice the speed and amazing latitude.”

Following the introduction of the new T-Max 400, USA B&W film sales overall increased the following year. He notes that prior to that it has been many years since that had happened. “We’ve adapted new technology into our products and made them more relevant; you get rewarded for that.”

The new T-Max is a major B&W film, he notes, “the finest grain 400 speed silver-based B&W film out there.”

“We didn’t mess to much with the tonality. People enjoy the straight-line mid tones for contact printing. Many who tried original T-Max, and didn’t like it, love the new T-Max 400.”

(T-Max films were introduced in 1986 and were among very first films to use tabular T-Grain, a new technology at the time. He explains: T-Max 400 incorporates a more modern, more efficient T-Grain that improves the grain-to-speed ratio considerably. “Our emulsions also transmit light more efficiently, allowing more light to penetrate deeper into the film, resulting in finer grain at a given speed.”)

DiSabato notes that they have not messed with the holy grail of Tri-X. “We’ve kept the Tri-X classic formulation and left that alone, because that’s just special.”

Kodak invests hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, in each of these new products, and he is confident that time will prove these investments to be wise.

“We’ve done a good job of controlling costs, and, this many years into what many thought would be the end of film, we’re still bringing out new films.”

Kodak’s continuing strength in the motion picture film business trickles down to help stills shooters. “Our motion picture cousins have a more active R&D program and a bigger business than what we have. All that technology and raw science they’re engineering is applicable to what we do in stills.”

OUTREACH TO FILM PHOTOGRAPHERS

DiSabato acknowledges that there is a, “huge difference in the amount of outreach and photographer support in marketplace versus 10 years ago. We had to get all of our costs under control to be able to continue to provide this significant portfolio of films.”

Aside from supporting B&W photographers like Crouser (mainly by supplying film and other key products), Kodak continues to sponsor many other individual photographers as well as John Sexton’s workshops, the Woodstock Center and the PDN 30, the magazine’s special focus on young photographers, “many of whom are B&W oriented.”

Specifically, Kodak has recently supported to work of the following B&W-centric photographers: Roman Loranc, Pari Dukovic, UK photographer Jocelyn Bain Hogg, Graeme Mitchell, Cole Barash, Amy Postle, Andy Spyra, Ryan Pyle and many others.

That said, there is not a lot of outright money to support B&W film photographers, so Kodak supports them with film. “There is limited funding – we review a lot of proposals – so if we can provide film we’ll do that if there is a fit, and also feature them on a podcast, blogs, social media. We’ll also feature images on our pro web site and include them in trade show panel discussions. We’ve even put their B&W images on Times Sq. Marriott Marquee.”

The bottom line however, is that Kodak still makes B&W film, in all the usual sizes and in some very special large sizes too. “The most important thing we can do is continue to offer our portfolio – of course we’ve taken a hit on the universe of film photographers out there to work with, and it doesn’t make me real happy, but we’re doing great job with resources we have.”

While Kodak still makes large format and ultra-large-format films, most of them are no longer regularly-stocked items, but have for the most part become special-order products only.

The trade off of regularly producing slow-moving large format and ultra-large-format films for the flexibility of running off these special formats and emulsions when we have sufficient demand is also good news, DiSabato says, as it keeps these niche films available.

KEEPING LARGE FORMAT FILM AVAILABLE, VIA CANHAM

In an unusual move, US-based K. B. Canham Cameras has become Kodak’s Ultra-Large Format Master Film Distributor.

It works like this: Canham takes orders for film via their Web site and when about $15,000 worth of hard orders are obtained for a particular size, Kodak manufactures and ships the film.

Under this new arrangement, “As long as we continue to make and support a particular emulsion, we will manufacture large format and ultra-large-format film sizes when we accumulate hard orders totaling around $15,000,” DiSabato explains.

After questions about his cameras, the availability of big film is the second question view camera-maker Keith Canham gets in selling his highly regarded cameras (sizes 4x5” to 12x20”), DiSabato says.

To help provide a simple, clear answer to the question, “Can I get film for this big camera?” Canham volunteered to become the venue for collecting the $15,000 in hard worldwide orders Kodak had determined they needed to actually produce these special films. (See the Kodak film order page on Canham’s web site, here: http://www.canhamcameras.com/kodakfilm.html )

This was announced at the last Photokina. “It was kind of a relief – as this keeps the large and ultra-large format portfolio vibrant,” he says.

He explains the program’s common-sense motivation:

“We’ve seen a trend in recent years of large format film being hard to find by photographers, yet we had warehouses full of stocked inventory. I believe that if a dealer orders a case of sheet film and ends up discarding or discounting the film due to passing the expiration date, they will never again order the product. This sets up the scenario where a photographer wants and needs a box, and Kodak has the film stocked; yet the supply and demand have trouble joining up. Kodak then has a situation where our inventory starts aging, and the slow inventory begins to draw negative attention.

“This is frustrating, to say the least. Our solution has been to move from a stocking strategy to a make-to-order approach. Dealers, distributors and photographers can all purchase directly from Canham Cameras, and he will ship across the world.

“For most part we have regular production in 4x5 and some films in 8x10. We no longer stock T-Max 100 (TMX) and T-Max 400 (TMY) in 8x10 ...however we maintain the 4x5 catalog numbers. Quite recently Canham received over 200 boxes of T-Max 100 in 8x10, and I believe that Keith is currently collecting requests for T-Max 400 in 8x10. The system is working, but everyone needs to be clear on one key point: that ‘not stocked’ does not translate into not being available.

“Our commitment to film and B&W is shown through actions, like investing in film and developing new products and managing the portfolio in a way that may not initially make sense to people, but which ultimately ensures that the entire portfolio stays healthy. We’re working to keep the whole thing healthy; it is like pruning in agriculture, almost.”

B&W IS STRONG

“Looking at the pool of existing photographers using our B&W products – right beside them are also these younger teenagers and people in their 20s -30s whose primary or only photo experience was digital. But they have a friend who is into film, or they take a course and get exposed to analog materials – and they have that magic moment seeing a B&W print emerge in the darkroom forfirst time. That experience continues to have magic and to really draw people in with its organic authenticity. People are discovering film for first time, and that pool will be replenished and refreshed and possibly even grow.”

We mentioned to DiSabato that the film-and-B&W-centric Freestyle catalog gets bigger, livelier and more interesting with each new issue, so clearly there is great interest in – and seemingly money to be made in selling -- traditional B&W materials. DiSabato enthused, “When I read that catalog I want to take pictures! It emphasizes basic stuff - digital and film in many ways have stopped competing, it is about the difference that give each category its strength; film, with its realism, simplicity and happy mistakes, from creative standpoint, contrasted with the immediately available sterile, predictable prefect digital image.”

“In recent years at trade shows, and when I’m out with customers, people seek me out and say, ‘I love film!’ That’s great, but of course for years we saw the numbers erode, but now in some markets the numbers appear to be leveling off in a sustainable fashion.”

DiSabato has been especially encouraged by strength in U.S. large and medium-format B&W film sales. “People need ways to differentiate themselves as pro photographers, and shooting film and moving up to medium format and large-format are great ways to set yourself apart from the digital crowd,” he enthuses.

--ends--

IT IS PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK ON THE OVATION CABLE TV NETWORK

2009-04-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

THE OVATION CABLE TV NETWORK IS DOING PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK AGAIN - DO NOT MISS IT. APRIL 12-18 2009 (click on link, above).
DO YOU LOVE GREAT B&W PHOTOGRAPHY? GO TO www.bwphotopro.com, where B&W photography lives!

More Great B&W in NY Times

2009-04-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

DO YOU LOVE B&W PHOTOGRAPHY? THEN VISIT WWW.BWPHOTOPRO.COM, THE ONLINE B&W PHOTO MAGAZINE.

The New York Times has been a great place for people who love B&W photography lately. Todd Heisler's One in 8 Million series features his amazing B&W work (as noted in a previous post), and Richard B. Woodward's piece on Edward Weston's Ca. Coastal home base was very cool. Check these features out - we also have links to them at www.bwphotopro.com.

Amazing B&W in NY Times

2009-03-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

DO YOU LOVE GREAT B&W PHOTOGRAPHY? THEN GO TO WWW.BWPHOTOPRO.COM, THE ONLINE B&W PHOTO MAGAZINE

The New York Times has an amazing B&W photo feature by Pulitzer-prize winner Todd Heisler:

http://nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html

Make Silver-Gelatin prints... while you still can!

2009-03-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

DO YOU LOVE GREAT B&W PHOTOGRAPHY? Then go to www.bwphotopro.com, the online B&W Photo magazine

I’m known as anti-digital. This is simply not true, but the misunderstanding is probably my fault.

I think digital is great, except for one or two things. My main beef with digital is: It is killing traditional film-based processes. This is to be expected, but if you love film and silver-gelatin printing, you need to try and slow down the obliteration of these wonderful materials for making hand-made photographs. Do you want it to be as hard to obtain film and paper as it now is to get materials for older alternative process (such as gum bichromate, et al)?

How do you do slow down the demise of film and paper? Simple: Buy film, buy silver-gelatin printing paper, buy chemicals. Does your local camera store have a small, forlorn darkroom department? Buy stuff and ask them to expand their traditional offerings. That’s a key, grass-roots way to slow the demise of these wonderful materials.

I’ve become aware that plenty of younger photographers, even ones who love B&W, have little or no experience with traditional B&W printing. OK, again, this is to be expected. However, it is wrong. These materials are still, thank goodness, widely available. If you’ve never made a traditional B&W print, do so! Rent or borrow a darkroom. Or get some trays and chems and print an inkjet digital contact negative.

A well-made print on the lustrous surface of silver-gelatin paper is magic. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then there’s even more reason for you to get this experience.) Will making such prints change your life as a photographer?

No way to know until you try it.

-Eric Rudolph

Ron Asheton, R.I.P.

2009-01-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

www.bwphotopro.com, Where B&W Photography Lives

Guitar legend Ron Asheton died recently; after about 30 years of a fairly low-profile career, the man who played those amazingly brutal and beautiful guitar parts on Fun House finally began to reap the rewards of his primitive genius. He played 150 shows, worldwide, with the reformed Stooges. I took this photo in 1973 at the now-shuttered Ford Theater in Detroit. Asheton had, by then, been usurped to the bass chair by new Stooge James Williamson.

Donald Westlake has died

2009-01-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

The great crime-fiction writer Donald E. Westlake died, on his way to dinner on New Year's Eve 2008. May he rest in peace.

If you've never read Westlake, you are in for a treat.

He is revered among writers worldwide. (Admired primarily by crime writers, he is also a hero to many outside the genre.) Westlake's series of novels about hapless, hangdog & slowly aging NYC thief John Dortmunder are delightful gems of comic drollery. His hard-boiled series about Parker (under pen name Richard Stark), a strangely likable cold-blooded thief and killer (killing only to protect his business interests) are marvels of straightforward action and perfectly chilling storytelling economy.

Absolutely anything by Westlake is worth reading. I'd long avoided his big book about the theft of an entire train full of coffee, owned by the ruthless Idi Amin. It just didn't sound like fun. The book, Kahawa, is terrific.

One hopes that the Dortmunder and Parker series will go on (there is at least one more Dortmunder book, Get Real, to be published in Spring 2009). If there can still be James Bond books written to this day, long after Ian Fleming's death, then hopefully these two series can continue. But can anyone write like Westlake? I nominate Westlake's friend, Lawrence Block. One lives in hope.

1980s Punk Rock, and Minor League Baseball!

2008-11-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

1980s Punk Rock and Minor League Baseball... (and medium- and large-format B&W photography)... they all go together naturally, right?

Well, maybe not. But we've got new B&W photo features on both subjects at www.bwphotopro.com, B&W photography's home on the Web.

Thurston Howes, a pro shooter from Virginia, made these gorgeous action shots and portraits in dingy Southern punk rock clubs starting in 1982, in the wonderful 6x6 square format.

This stuff rocks.

Another Virginia pro, the great David Deal, shoots for major magazines and ad clients mostly in 4x5" large format. He shot Virginia's Valley League, a rustic but prestigious farm league, just this summer, on Polaroid Type 55 P/N. This is gorgeous work; don't miss it.

www.bwphotopro.com

Mary Ellen Mark, on color

2008-09-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

The difficulty with color is to go beyond the fact that it's color – to have it be not just a colorful picture but really be a picture about something. It's difficult. So often color gets caught up in color, and it becomes merely decorative. Some photographers use [ it ] brilliantly to make visual statements combining color and content; otherwise it is empty. - Mary Ellen Mark, Mary Ellen Mark : 25 Years by Marianne Fulton , ISBN: 0821218387 , Page: 5

Thanks to Photoquotes.com

Tap-a-Keg, a Hell of a Joint: Square-format B&W

2008-08-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

www.bwphotopro.com

The 2-1/4x2-1/4" square format is wonderful. It is emerging as my favorite film format of all. I took this with my brand new Yashica Mat 124G twin lens reflex in Spring 1986. It was a bright Saturday in my nabe at West 76th St. in NYC and I went out to see how sharp an image I could get with a small aperture in the then brand-new world (to me) of medium format. I set out to make a sharpness test and ended up with one of my most popular, if not my most popular, image ever. The Tap-a-Keg, truly a Hell of a Joint, was a great bar where people in the nabe let it all hang out. Italo's Pizza right next door was also great. Now, there's a Bang & Olufsen showroom where the bar was and a Starbucks instead of the pizza place. Tri-X, exposure unrecorded, probably f16 at 125th or 250th of a second. Handheld.

Bikeguy, 3rd Ave., NYC

2008-08-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

At Left - Bikeguy, 3rd. Avenue, NYC

Go to www.bwphotopro.com for more!

I had a mini-project, shooting fast NYC bicyclists in action near my old office at 3rd. Avenue and 48th St. The photos were all boring. So I ditched the point-and-shoot and got out my medium format Bronica RF645 w/ strobe, set the shutter speed to 1/15th or 1/30th, picked a reasonable f-stop, zone focused and waited for someone on two wheels to come zooming by. All well and good, but it came together in this shot with the black SUV contrasting with the rider's face, the white truck contrasting with his black hair and all this great motion blur contrasting with the frozen areas where the strobe hit the most directly. Oh yeah, and the cool dude w/ baseball cap in the black SUV. This bicyclist was going very fast among intensely dense midtown NYC traffic, and I think this shot captures that feeling nicely. Shot on Tri-X 120 film in the 645 format, w/ 65mm f4 Zenzanon lens. GO TO www.bwphotopro.com for more on the whole world of B&W photography.

B&W Photography: Everyone can do B&W now!

2008-08-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

At Left; Iggy Pop, Academy of Music, NYC, early 1980s (go to: www.bwphotopro.com, for more great B&W photos)

Here's the deal: Everyone used to shoot B&W back when I was a kid. Color was expensive and complex. Then color took over, and B&W was history for the average person.

Now, in the digital age, anyone can do B&W!

And if you love photography and have never explored B&W, well, you're missing out on something that is seriously cool.

See my Web site: www.bwphotopro.com

You might be surprised by how great your digital images look in B&W. Try converting some photos in your image editor. A simple B&W conversion is just the start, of course. Once you decide to work with a digital image in B&W, you have total control over how the image will ultimately look. To learn more about B&W, and to see some great B&W photos, go to www.bwphotopro.com.