COBBLER'S PAGE

By Brian Asquith (Librarian)

EXHIBITIONS.

One of the advantages of the print over the slide is that they can be veiwed alongside others to be compared and presented as a whole. Slides ,when they are made public, tend to be used in lectures or AV sequences for which they are ideal. With all the progress and talk on digital pictures and new ways of passing on information which seems to point to pictures being on TV screens and prints on photocopy paper in the future, will this be the `exhibition`? I hope not. The production of a photographic print by the wet process, its eventual mounting and showing is such a diverse hobby giving lots of pleasure on veiwing the result.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITIONS

are held all over the country from the individual to the international, amateur and professional to raise awareness and to convey news. We are invited to look. As a keen looker and exhibitor I take part in the local Camera Club exhibition each year when we put on over a hundred monochrome/colour prints in the local Art Gallery for a month. This is framed for us and displayed in an attractive room by the local authority. It is one of the most popular shows they put on. I suspect it is enjoyed because of the variety of subjects, the expertise that goes into the production, and an be related to their own experiences. We are fortunate in this area in having the National Museum of Film.Television and Photography within a few miles.

Despite their attitude to the amateur, and in particular camera clubs, they do have some very good photographic exhibitions from time to time. Unlike the club scene, they are specialised. Karsh with his portraits for example; and, just recently, a splendid show of Landscape photographry by Chambre Hardiman. At the same time another exhibition on a lower floor was billed as a contemporary look at the landscape. They seemed to be making the point that the Hardiman was dated and a romantic whereas the modern photographer shows it as it really is, full of grit and symbolism. By ignoring the club and amateur photographer they are missing the opportunity of showing a good variety of all types of photography. Admittedly there may be a bias to the romantic but with travel opening up opportunities no one now has a monopoly on subject matter. This was reflected in pictures from all over the world in the recent YPU Exhibition where entries are drawn from all the clubs in Yorkshire. The best of these then go on to be shown along with the best entries from the other regions and form the Alliance of Great Britain Exhibition.

This tours round the country, do try to catch it if at all possible as this really is the best of club photography. There is some great photography to be seen around everyday, look at such as The Independent and the Guardian newspapers, TV has its share and we are all biased to some degree in the choice of picture we enjoy looking at. What I have no time for is poor technique passed off as Arty. Of course technique. alone does not make a picture, it has to have content. Great pictures have both.

One thing that struck me about the two exhibitions at Bradford was that one needed explanations for each picture, long explanations of what they meant or what the author was aiming at. The other needed only captions saying `where`.

Carrying on the B&W theme. A formula for toning from a warm brown to an intense black, via a reddish brown. All chemicals obtainable from A R or RAYCO. Safe and doesn`t smell the house out! Formula: Toning with Thiourea Dioxide.

Solution One: Dioxide 20gms 1litre. Solution Two: Pot Carbonate 500gms 680.mls. Both solutions are made with warm water.

Solution One keeps only two days. Solution Two, indefinitely

For use mix , Dioxide sol. Pot Carb. Water 1. 500 10 490 2. 500 20 480 3. 500 40 460 4. 500 80 420 5. 500 160 340 6. 500 320 180 Allow the mix to stand for two hours.

The more Carbonate used, the colder the tones.

Mix One is the warmest while Mix Six gives a tone not far from neutral black. All have a pronounced increased density range with rich engraving blacks giving tones varying from sepia/red/cold brown to black depending on mix and paper used eg. a chloro. paper gives a lovely chocolate brown in No.4.

Method: Bleach prints in Ferri/Bromide Bleach,wash well, tone in any mix 1 to 6. Depending on desired tone leave in toner for at least 10 minutes. Wash for 20 minutes.

EXPERIMENTS; If left 12 hrs before use tones become warmer; If toner is used warmer 70-100F. it becomes erratic A few mls. of 10%sol.Hydro-Chloric Acid is worth trying to see results.

Anyone in the region of Hay-on-Wye should make the effort to call in to see the photographic book shop, Blinking Image. A small shop cram full of interesting books on every aspect of our hobby and some real bargains. The owner encourages browsing and will get any title you cannot find.