There's been no published obituary yet for Howard Bond, late of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which surprises me—Howard was prosperous, orderly, and lived with dignity—but I have heard from several people who knew him. They confirm that he passed away of heart failure in the night five days ago or so, at the approximate age of 93. [UPDATE: A nice obituary has now been published, although it doesn't confirm date of birth or date of death.]
Howard was a Contributing Editor of Darkroom Techniques magazine when I arrived there, and remained so. I edited a number of his articles, and we were always on cordial terms, but the only time I met him in person was when we asked him to come to Niles from his home in Michigan to judge a reader contest with two other guest judges. A handful of us spent a long afternoon and part of the next day studying submissions and arguing the merits of various works. Even after I left the magazine we continued to have long telephone conversations occasionally, almost always discussing the world of photography (and sometimes specific controversies) exclusively.
He was a gifted and devoted large-format photographer with a strong grasp of technique. He photographed in what Mark L. Power once called the "West Coast" tradition, the tradition of Ansel Adams (whom he studied with), Edward and Brett Weston, and Imogen Cunningham, but of course putting his own distinctive spin on things. I wouldn't say you could tell a Bond at a glance, but looking at a broader selection of his work you wouldn't mistake it for anyone else's. He never had much of a presence online, which was probably intentional, and has not been especially well served by books; lacking an official c.v. I can't confirm this impression, but my sense is that he exhibited at a high level, enjoyed strong print sales, and was collected by top museums as well as by an enthusiastic following of private collectors.
Working on one of my usual lists (which were, I suppose, a primitive version of what we now call "clickbait"), I asked him who he thought were the best living photographic printmakers. He viewed the very concept askance, although we both agreed on Ray McSavaney. I asked him if I thought he himself belonged on the list. With the sort of clear-eyed modesty of intelligent and gifted people who know exactly what they are about—I'll have to paraphrase here—he said that he didn't think of his work in that way; he simply liked to work hard on his craft, and that sometimes the prints sing and sometimes they don't. I never did compile that list, but if I had, Howard would have been on it. In spite of his possible protests.
Speaking of singing, I believe Howard himself was a singer. He had a great love of classical music; his wife of many years, who predeceased him, was a pianist, and one source mentions that they attended as many as 40 concerts a year.
He was also a generous teacher, as was reflected in his many articles. The articles I remember most clearly were his brilliant articles on unsharp masking, which he did manually using 8x10-inch negatives, well before it was a Photoshop action. He remarked ruefully that what Photoshop did digitally with a few clicks of the mouse took him a whole weekend of work. But then right away he mentioned that he would keep doing it the old-fashioned way.
His books are Light Motifs, White Motif: The Cyclades Islands of Greece, and Luminous Construction, a 70-page catalog.
I'm sorry I can't write a more personal appreciation of his life. I did not know him well. When we judged that contest, we often found ourselves arguing against each other—without rancor, but with conviction—although because of his experience and status we deferred to his views in the judging process as I recall. I think he should be better known that he is. Although I don't think he would appreciate the analogy due to the instrument and the musical genre, I always thought of him as being somewhat like those master guitarists who other guitarists appreciate but who aren't as well known to the wider public, such as, say, Guthrie Govan or Terry Kath. I'm sure he would have found a classical music analogy much more suitable!
There are a number of links to his work in an LFF thread, but I caution you that, more than in most cases, you don't see Howard's work as it ought to be seen in tiny little JPEGs, a form that robs his pictures of the presence and impact he worked so hard to put into them. It's one of the ironies of the current online culture that the photographs with the strongest presence as objects are diminished the most.
The impression in my memory of Howard Bond is of a man of dignity and integrity—of strong opinions (many artists are like that), but fair-minded, and generous with his time and knowledge. He's on another list that I carry in my head: photographers who deserve a comprehensive retrospective accompanied by a book. It's not too late for that.
Mike
(If you know who took the picture above please let me know. It might have been a self-portrait.)
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Featured Comments from:
Bob Zeichner: "Howard often commented that he was very fortunate to have had several careers. He was a band director and a cornet player. Margaret was his accompanist on piano. She too, was a music educator. Howard also worked as a computer programmer (from the days of punch cards). That career took him to Southeast Asia among other places, where he also made some very interesting people pictures. His final career was as a fine art photographer and photography educator, conducting many workshops around the world and contributing many technical articles to Photo Techniques magazine. He never lost his passion for music and regularly attended concerts in Detroit and Ann Arbor.
"I hope that adds a bit more."
Rob Spring: "I have been a fan of Howard Bond since I came across his book, White Motif, which I immediately bought. His high-key photos of the Cyclades Islands of Greece is one of my treasured photo books. He went back to these islands most every summer from 1984 to 1988, which resulted in a most amazing array of whites and shadows in the local architecture. Not to be missed."
Steve Rosenblum: "Thank you for writing this, Mike. For those of us 'Townies' who have lived in Ann Arbor for most of our lives, it still feels like a bit of a small town. Over the years we repeatedly run into each other at restaurants, concerts, art fairs, classes, parks, and other places. I did not know Howard Bond personally, but met him occasionally through the years in this way. He was quietly impactful to our community. In the '90s when I re-engaged in photography, I joined the Ann Arbor Camera Club for a couple of years (as opposed to the 'Ann Arbor Crappy Camera Club' that I now occasionally attend which is a much more informal group). As I recall, Howard was very generous with his time and talents when it came to teaching techniques and judging competitions in that club, which had, and still has, a formal and useful approach.
"Howard and his wife also very generously supported the Ann Arbor cultural scene, especially in classical music. My wife and I have season tickets to the concerts put on by the University Musical Society which sponsors concerts by world renowned orchestras and artist in many genres, but especially classical music, usually at Hill Auditorium, a nearly acoustically perfect venue. During intermission at a concert there this year I was mindlessly reading through the program when I looked at the listings on the donors’ page, and saw Howard listed under the major donors category for gifts greater than $100,000. I was pleased and grateful to see him listed there, not least because it meant he was still alive as I hadn’t heard about or seen him in many years. Fortunately for us Ann Arborites, it is not that difficult to attend 40 concerts per year.
"I also think that he would be a great subject for a retrospective exhibition and book. By the way, I don’t think it is entirely a coincidence that both Howard Bond and Thomas and John Knoll were from Ann Arbor—you see a bit of Howard every time you click the Unsharp Mask tool in PhotoShop."
Herman Joyner: "I've always had a deep appreciation for Howard Bond and his photography. I have two of his books: Light Motifs and White Motifs. His first, Light Motifs, features images of English cathedrals and it is still first-place in my ranking of black-and-white book reproductions. Those reproductions are as good as many silver gelatin prints and better than most. Astonishingly beautiful book. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to write a high school level photo textbook for Davis Publications called Focus on Photography. Most of the chapters were divided into subject matter and in each chapter was a profile of a photographer working in that genre. Howard Bond was my choice for landscape photography. I interviewed him and Davis Publications arranged to use several of his photos in the textbook. I found him to be somewhat reserved, very polite, and extremely generous with his time. His talent was immense and he should have been better known. I feel grateful to have had the chance to work with him at all. He is one of my personal heroes in photography."
John Krumm: "The Amazon copy of Luminous Construction sells for $300 for some reason. It's still available from Syracuse University Press for $14.95, and I just ordered it."
John Sparks: "I attended a Howard Bond workshop back in the '90s. Seeing his prints from enlarged 8x10 negatives made me get an 8x10 camera and enlarger (although I kind of wanted one before that). It was a step too far for me; 8x10 cameras are hard to master and I got very few photographs with it that I liked. Too hard to carry to the places I wanted to photograph. Howard was a master of the 8x10 camera. He even used an 11x14 camera for a while, but I think he said it was partly a gimmick to get more recognition by galleries. In any event, I liked the 11x14 prints from his 8x10 negatives better than the 11x14 contact prints he showed us (and liked my own 8x10 negatives through an enlarger better than my own 8x10 contact prints, even when they were 8x10 prints). The workshop was right after he started working with unsharp masking. The first prints he showed us were phenomenal! The next day he showed some more where he had figured out the maximal unsharp mask he could make, and I though they went too far. I never tried it in the darkroom, and tend to turn off sharpening in Photoshop and Lightroom to this day. The workshop was a great experience that had a large impact on my photography for many years."
Oh, his work is spectacular! I looked at the photos you linked to and got tears - what an artist! He left the world more beautiful. Thank you for posting these.
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon | Thursday, 18 July 2024 at 01:22 PM
I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Howard Bond. Although I did not have the pleasure of knowing him personally, his unique perspective and dedication to his craft will be dearly missed. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, and everyone touched by his work. His legacy will continue to inspire many.
Posted by: darlene | Thursday, 18 July 2024 at 02:56 PM
A fine post. Many lessons. Shows your great character too. Worthy of correcting the that which should be than. Sorry for the bathos.
Posted by: Richard G | Thursday, 18 July 2024 at 03:25 PM
Pulling more on the musical analogy thread, music suffers the same fate in the digital era as photography. If I listen to an album on vinyl (one that was recorded pre digitally), I can see where the musicians are placed on stage, in my minds eye.
But to hear the same songs as mp3s renders them sterile and congealed.
Posted by: Kye Wood | Thursday, 18 July 2024 at 06:23 PM
I had a look at Mr. Bond's work linked on the Large Format Photography Forum and it is truly exceptional and dedicated work by a photographer who understood what a good black-and-white photograph should look like. I enjoyed seeing his attention to composition structure and the harmony between the various shades of gray from black to white.
It is a shame that his work is not more widely known, but I guess that's the way it is in this day and age where anyone can become a "photographer".
Posted by: Gary Nylander | Friday, 19 July 2024 at 01:44 AM
The LLF thread presented in this post led me to this Howard Bond picture titled "Arch Base, Horne, England" that draws me in to just stare at. I would like to view this print in person one day.
https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/arch-base-horne-england-2310
Posted by: jp41 | Saturday, 20 July 2024 at 01:52 PM