Ctein, Competing Ferns
For about a year now, I've been after our regular contributor, Ctein, to see if he'd be willing to offer to our readership a fine example of a dye transfer print for a bargain price. Dye transfer (Ctein is perhaps the leading expert in the world today on dye transfer printing from color negatives—other specialists tend to work from transparencies) is the print equivalent of Kodachrome, the granddaddy of deluxe color techniques. Even in its heyday it was reserved for Rolls-Royce projects: advertising photography for reproduction and museum exhibition prints. It has always been expensive.
To really "get" what photographic print quality is all about, you need to see it for yourself. Words only go so far. One of my own ideal collections would be one that contained good samples of many of the great variety of photographic printing techniques. My little personal motley (you can't really call it a collection) contains tintypes, platinum prints, 8x10 contact prints, daguerreotypes, SX-70 prints, '40s snapshots, photogravures, and a lot else besides. A collection like that without a dye transfer print simply isn't complete. When museums and collectors want the absolute finest in color printing, they still call for dye transfer. Dye transfer prints have a richness and depth unmatched by any other kind of photographic print. Before the latest pigment inkjet prints on the best papers, they had the best longevity of any viable color print process. It still has the largest color gamut of any process. Dye transfer prints can show extraordinary subtlety of tone and hue, combined with a brightness range of 500:1 from blackest black to whitest white. No other print, black-and-white or color, matches that.
I'm happy to say Ctein's schedule has finally cleared, and for a very limited time (really, for reasons I'll get to in a moment), exclusively through T.O.P., we're very pleased to offer a choice of two excellent examples of dye transfer prints, "Kahili Wild Ginger" and "Competing Ferns." Large versions are available at Ctein's regular price, $1,100, but for this offer, you can get smaller (though still nicely-sized) versions for a radically reduced price—$100 for one, $180 for both (when ordered at same time and shipped to same address).
Ctein, Kahili Wild Ginger
Note that you will be making your payments directly to Ctein via Paypal, and he will be sending you your print(s). He promises delivery in time for Christmas.
To make this possible, it is necessary to take orders in advance and then print to order; it's only by printing all at once knowing in advance that each one is already sold that Ctein can make these prints for anything like this price. For that reason, ORDERS WILL BE TAKEN FOR TEN DAYS ONLY. (Last day will be Sunday, October 19th.) This isn't an arbitrary deadline; he needs to know how many to make. After that, the orders will be closed and the number of prints that were ordered will be produced.
Shipping costs are included in U.S. orders only. For out-of-country orders, shipping will be an extra $15 to Canada and $25 to all other countries. You'll need to arrange a separate payment of the extra shipping charge to Ctein. Prints will be shipped Priority Mail International, but delivery times are uncertain and he can't guarantee foreign delivery before Christmas (although he'll try).
Further details: The image area of Competing Ferns is 7.5 x 10" and of Kahili Wild Ginger is 8 x 9". Prints have at least one inch white borders around the image area and are signed and titled on front in archival ink, signed and dated on back in pencil. All prints will be shipped flat and sturdily packed, first-class mail, uninsured (Ctein will replace any that get damaged in shipping).
The image area of the large prints is approximately 14 x 19" for Competing Ferns and approximately 15 x 17" for Kahili Wild Ginger. Those will ship insured. (Note that there is no time limit on ordering the larger prints; these are regular sizes at regular prices. The time limit is for the low-cost versions.)
If you have placed an order and need to inquire about it please just email Ctein or me directly.
{SALE ENDED MIDNIGHT U.S. CENTRAL TIME, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19th}
I can say with confidence that there's absolutely no other way to get a dye transfer print at a price anywhere near this low. Just having a custom dye made from your own original (from one of the only three or four people other than Ctein who still do it) would cost on the order of $1,200 to $1,500. The craftspeople left in the world who can still make dye transfer prints could fit into one large living room. The materials are discontinued; the process is on the cusp of disappearing into history.
I'm not saying this is your absolute last chance to own a dye transfer print—not the case, yet. But the opportunities are getting scarcer (and most of them, more expensive) with the passing of time.
______________________
Mike
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P.S. If people can't see the photographs well enough here to feel comfortable
ordering the prints, here are links to higher-quality JPEGs on Ctein's
web site:
Kahili Wild Ginger
Competing Ferns
