At least fifty percent of the image is done in the darkroom—I think Gene would say ninety percent. The negative has the image, but it can’t produce the image completely, as the photographer saw it—not as Gene saw it. You have to work it over and over with the enlarger, you have to burn it in, you have to hold back areas—this detail down here or over there.”

Karales continued, getting more specific about the technique: “Gene always liked to get separations around people, figures, and that was always done with potassium ferrocyanide. It was the contrast that made the prints difficult. Gene saw the contrast with his eyes, but the negative wouldn’t capture it the same way. So he would have to bring the lamp down and burn, and then if that spilled too much exposure and made it too dark, you would lighten it with the ferrocyanide. You had to be careful not to get the ferrocyanide too strong, and yet you couldn’t have it too weak, either. If it took too long, it would spread. So I would blow the fixer off of the paper so ferrocyanide would stay in an area, and then dunk the paper right away to kill the action. Or if you wanted something to go smoother, then you left the fixer there. It was extremely delicate and complicated, but we got it down pat.”

via In the Darkroom with W. Eugene Smith.

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2 Comments

  1. So, then does it stand to reason that today for many 90% of the image is made in Photoshop? Perhaps. I find that interesting because with so many folks (not photographers), there is a general disdain of Photoshop (ab)use on images yet those same people would likely not have an issue with lots of manipulation in the darkroom. For me, an image is made in the camera and completed, retouched and finessed in Photoshop, which is at least 50% of my process. I see nothing wrong with that and explain to people when asked, that Photoshop is just another tool, and just like any tool, can be used effectively or not, depending on the skills of the user.

  2. I experimented with Potassium Ferrocyanide on many prints. It was a bitch. If I could succeed at getting the chemistry accurate on one print out of 10 it was a good day.


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