The Online Photographer

Look Who Came to Visit

My good buddy and longtime colleague Gordon Lewis is my houseguest for a few days here at TOP Rural Headquarters, which is a treat. Speaking of treats, Gordon is a master of martial arts and a devoted guitar player among many other skills and talents, but he's also an excellent chef, and he's actually fixing me an omelette as I write these words. So I'll make this quick.

The eggs come from my friend Dave, who lives up the hill from me. Dave is a master stonemason but also a farmer, and he has a variegated collection of  exotic chickens—some of whom have intermingled with each other. So Dave will say things like "That one's grandmother was a Wyandotte, but her father was that Rhode Island Red rooster over there." (I just picked those names out of a hat; I don't remember any of the names of the chickens Dave has.) The eggs are all sorts of shades, including blue.

Did you know that eggs keep for years as long as you don't wash their outer membrane off? True. But these are very fresh. (I'll write a post about Dave sometime soon. He's a master of his craft and an interesting guy.)

In the picture above, Gordon is holding the artist's proof of the print of "Precipitation" from the reprise print offer that we'll launch soon, standing in front of my framed print from the first sale back in 2009.

So do you recognize this scene?

It's a snapshot of the place where Precipitation was taken. Obviously the wall has been painted, and decoration in the form of painted plywood cutouts have been added. A no smoking sign has been added too, but the plaque thing that had the yellow rectangle on it in 2009 is still there, albeit without the yellow rectangle. The sidewalk is still the same.

Gordon's picture makes it clear that the patches on the concrete wall had a certain artistic quality; I thought it was a bit ironic that someone painted over those, but then they, or someone else, saw fit to add different decoration of their own. Needed something.

Gordon's picture disappeared as soon as the woman with the umbrella took one more step, of course, but as you can see, the setting is gone now too. He says that if the woman in his picture had been walking in front of those plywood figures, he wouldn't have bothered making an exposure.

The new print of Precipitation is made by Mike and Janine Zaikowski of Profiles in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. "They get photographers," in Gordon's words, but their main business is printing high-quality, color-matched reproductions of artworks (for which they still use the old word "giclée"). They made the prints the first time around, too.

The new print is on slightly warmer paper but the paper is gorgeous. The print looks fantastic, very rich. It captures the feel of the light. We'll only be offering one size this time, the size Gordon is holding.

One question: should all the new prints be signed or unsigned? He's still deciding.

By the way, the omelette, which has new potatoes, broccoli, fresh basil, and mushrooms in it, is delicious.

Mike
(Thanks to Chef Lewis)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

A healthy goulash.
Give Mike a “Like” or Buy yourself something nice

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Testing the Waters (Street Photograph)

Gordon Lewis, Precipitation, 2009

I have Gordon Lewis's "Precipitation" hanging in my downstairs powder room and it gets more comments and compliments than any other picture in my house. It's a lovely and luminous print, better on paper than onscreen.

One friend, a poet, admitted at the end of his stay with me that he had repeatedly gone into the powder room just to contemplate the picture, over and over again.

The print was taken for a camera review of the Pentax K-7 DSLR that Gordon wrote for TOP in 2009. So many readers liked it that we staged an essentially impromptu print sale. It did well, selling 77 prints.

Since then, however, the acclaim has continued...at least in my powder room! I swear I've heard at least ten people say some version of this: "I remember that. I should have bought one when I had the chance."

Scott Kirkpatrick, the TOP reader who flew in from Boston on Wednesday, was only the latest to say it, as I was giving him a quick tour of the house.

So I finally asked Gordon if he'd like to reprise the sale and offer a Second Edition of the print. He said he wouldn't mind, but that he wanted me to test the waters before we went through all the work involved. Which I am hereby doing.

The picture has had quite a career. It was later featured in the book Why Photographs Work by George Barr.

Gordon, of course, is the author of Street Photography from Rocky Nook. Which is apropos, because my portrait of him in action in New York City, above, is one of my favorite street photographs of my own! (Or does that count?)

Here's one in which you can actually tell what he looks like. Those are Larry Fink photos behind Gordon (thanks to JM for pointing that out).

So what do you say? Would you like us to offer "Precipitation" again? The price would be between one and two hundred dollars. You might also mention if you would be willing to help publicize the sale on other sites and forums you visit.

Thanks!

Mike
(Thanks to Gordon)

UPDATE from Gordon: Thanks to all who answered that they would want a second chance to buy Precipitation. The reason I asked Mike to test the waters in the first place was that neither of us saw any point in putting time and energy into something you have little interest in, and might even find off-putting. Enough people have said, 'Yes, I'd buy a print or two,' that Mike and I have agreed to go set up a sale for some time before the end of the year. We'll keep you posted.

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Raining tastiness down into your day
Give Mike a “Like” or Buy yourself an umbrella

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Last Day, Last Chance! Our Book Sale Is Ending Today

Our current book sale ends at close of business on the East Coast today, for the matched pair of Lee Friedlander's life work and the beautiful Paul Strand title. You can still make a last-minute order during the day today, but then they go back to regular price.

It has been extremely popular and very successful, with many hundreds of books successfully homed. I'll have final numbers for you in a week or so. Yale has been excellent about taking care of problems, of which (after an initial glitch, corrected within hours) there have been only a few.

There are two ways to order:

[UPDATE: Sale ended on Friday evening. Please check back for future book sales!]

Big thanks
Our thanks to everyone who bought one, two, or all three of these books. I hope you get a lot of pleasure out of them.

I'd have a book sale every month if I could. We have more from Yale University Press (yup, YUP) and a gorgeous volume of 19th century landscape photography coming up this Fall. Watch this space!

Mike
(Many thanks to Jim and our friends at YUP)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

TOP/Yale Spring Photo Book Offer
(Ends June 30th or when supplies run out)

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

hugh crawford: "I got both Lee Friedlander books, a few days ago I went through In the Picture and it was so emotionally devastating* that I couldn't do any work on my project for the rest of the day, except for looking at paper samples and researching international postal rates. That's how good it was. I wasn't really expecting a memento mori and haven't opened the other Friedlander book yet since I'm running behind schedule already. TLDR: Wow!"

*not somthing I expect from Lee Friedlander, I don't know whether it was seeing what I had always thought of of as individual photographs set as a narrative or if it's the unexpected cognitive overlap of that work seeping into what I'm editing and vice versa. —Hugh

Benjamin Marks: "I have been enjoying the Friedlander books extensively. I have a couple of 'longitudinal' projects myself (originally inspired by Nicholas Nixon), and the sheer depth of Friedlander's documentary effort is awe-inspiring.

"Mike: Your making these book offers happen is really such a gift to the community you have created. And there is such a natural (I almost hesitate to use the word) synergy between publishers or wholesalers who have reached saturation in their markets and a group of pretty sophisticated consumers (if I may pat all of the TOP readership, myself included, on the back) who are otherwise unaware of the volumes on offer. Win-win-win, if TOP gets a little something for the effort. Well done!"

So What Do You Think of the Book?

Enough time has gone by that the early-bird orders of Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography should have arrived in readers' mitts by now.

So what do you think of it? I'd like to hear. (We'll do this with the Friedlander books another day.)

I found this book to be an ideal way to re-acquaint with Strand's uncompromising work. Although not originals, the illustrations are gorgeous, and as a "curated show" in this book they have a cumulative power. I've been through the book four times since I got it, looking carefully, and each time I've found it to be a moving and emotional experience. It sums up a man's whole life in a rich and honorable way. Strand himself went from a vigorous and iconoclastic youth to a more principled and reflective older age; his pictures got quieter and less ambitious but more profound.

I have a fraught history with Strand—years ago, back when I was young and arrogant, I got embroiled in a public controversy that centered around him. It was a back-and-forth that played out in the pages of a magazine. But one thing I've always been on the lookout for is the tendency we humans have to become polarized by disputation. So I always try to remain open-minded and willing to modify my stances as time goes by. I made my peace with Paul Strand and his work a long time ago. Maybe he just suits me better at the age I am now.

I'm eager to know if you like the book too. I hope those who have contacted me privately will leave comments too.

The Yale Sale
The book sale is still open. This time around we're offering three excellent hardcover books for bargain prices, thanks to our friends at Yale University Press. It looks like the next sale won't happen until Fall.

This sale has been extremely popular so far; we've sold a total of over 600 copies of the three titles. Out of all those, only one book has needed to be replaced because of shipping damage (maybe two, if a reader who contacted me a few days ago also decides to request a replacement). That's a great ratio.  Yale is also getting high marks from buyers for their phone service at the 800 number.

There are two ways to order: on the Internet using a code, or by phone. Here are the Internet links:

Lee Friedlander, In the Picture ($25, or $20 each for two; published at $75)

Lee Friedlander, Family in the Picture ($25, or $20 each for two; published at $75)

Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography ($39; published at $75)

These links will take you to the US website of Yale University Press. (The UK website is not involved in the sale.) Enter the code YTOP1 if you are ordering only one Friedlander book, or YTOP2 if you are ordering both; the Strand will ring up at $39 using either code.

You can also call the 800 number of Yale University Press to order over the phone, or if you have any problems. That number is 1-800-405-1619.

If you'd like to do us a favor, please post an announcement or a link to our Yale Sale at other sites and forums you visit; the sale is not limited to people coming directly from TOP. All you need is the code to get the Yale/TOP sale prices. Here's a quick link you can use: https://tinyurl.com/yd3xa6zd

Quantities are limited. The sale will run until the end of June or until supplies run out. Shipping will vary depending on how many books you order and how far they have to go. Those charges will be applied at checkout as per Yale's normal procedures.

I'm looking forward to your comments....

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Peter Wright [who left this comment under an unrelated post just yesterday —Ed.]: "I just got my books from the Yale Book Offer and I'm very pleased. The Friedlander books came first, and a few days later the Paul Strand book arrived. I thought at first that they had messed up, but the books were packaged separately for size/packaging reasons, (They just must have taken different routes to Canada.) After looking at the Friedlander books you won't feel guilty about selfies any more! (Or hounding your family.) The Strand book goes from 1910 to 1967—you can see the technology and ideas evolve over the years. The book is also beautifully made, and the printing excellent. $39 well spent! Thanks for making this available."

Spring Book Sale: Paul Strand and Lee Friedlander

Welcome to The Online Photographer's 600th week on the Web! This morning we're offering three fine art photography books at nice discounts courtesy of our friends at Yale University Press. Since many people have been waiting eagerly for this, I'll give you the lowdown post haste and talk more about the books themselves in days to come.

First up is a matched pair: In the Picture: Self-Portraits 1958-2011 and Family in the Picture 1958-2013 by Lee Friedlander. The former was published by Yale University Press in conjunction with Yale University Art Gallery in 2011, the latter by Yale University Art Gallery in 2013. Both were designed by the distinguished book designer Katy Homans with separations by Thomas Palmer, and they're a little unusual in today's photo book world in that they were printed in the USA by Meridian Printing (a lot of book printing these days has moved to Asia).

They're smallish books, just under 9x10", but bricks at about 1 3/4 inches thick—there are over 350 plates in the Family book and more than 400 in the self-portrait book. I'll talk more about the pictures later, but the reproduction is rich and vivid, with a full, classic tonal range, very well done.

These two Lee Friedlander books were published at $75 each. We are offering them at $25 for one (yes, you can buy just one, our reasoning being that you might already have the other), or $40 for the set.

The third book is the magnificent Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography, which I already wrote a bit about here, published by (deep breath) The Philadelphia Museum of Art in collaboration with Fundación MAPFRE in association with Yale University Press, in 2015. This is a magnificent book, I believe the best single Strand title ever published up to now. It was designed by Takaaki Matsumoto of Matsumoto Incorporated, New York, and printed by Trifolio S.R.L., Verona, Italy. It was published at $75, which I have to say made it a very good deal given the outstanding quality of the book and its luxurious reproductions. We are offering it here at $39.

I said I wouldn't say anything about the books now, but quickly: I think this is one of those cases where the book reproductions might actually be better than original prints, the reason being that Strand printed extremely dark, requiring strong light to see the prints properly, and the fashion in Museums lately is to keep light levels very low—a particularly bad combination in the case of Paul Strand. The illustrations here may be the absolute best way to see the work, if you're interested mainly in experiencing the content of the photographs. The balance of visibility and rich tonality is perfectly judged in the book.

How to order
There are two ways to order: on the Internet using a code, or by phone. Here are the links:

Lee Friedlander, In the Picture

Lee Friedlander, Family in the Picture

Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography

These links will take you to the US website of Yale University Press. (The UK website is not involved in the sale.) Enter the code YTOP1 if you are ordering only one Friedlander book, or YTOP2 if you are ordering both; the Strand will ring up at $39 using either code. You can also call the 800 number of Yale University Press to order over the phone, or if you have any problems. That number is 1-800-405-1619.

Note that you are welcome to post these codes and links on other sites and forums if you wish; the sale is not limited to people coming directly from TOP. All you need is the code to get the Yale/TOP sale prices.

Quantities are limited, so the sale will run for 30 days or until supplies run out. However we have generous quantities of the books, so you needn't be anxious about it. Well, generous quantities of two of the three, anyway.

Shipping will vary depending on how many books you order and how far they have to go. Those charges will be applied at checkout as per Yale's normal procedures.

Hope you like!
I really hope you appreciate this sale and can't wait to hear what you think of the books. Very exciting and gratifying for me; as I said the other day, I'm mad for photography books myself, and I love being able to offer these sales. And by the way, each book you buy includes a little dollop of a donation to TOP, so you'll be helping to keep the lights on here as we move toward Week 601, for which I say thank you. Very big thanks as well to Jim and Kali at Yale and to our friend Keith F. Davis, who put Yale and TOP together.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Collin J Örthner: "I love that this Paul Strand book sale allows shipping into Canada at a far more reasonable rate than your previous book sales! I greatly appreciate Strand's work and very much look forward to this volume. Thanks Mike!"

Speed: "Entered order. Worked fine with no changes to my computer or browser.

"How soon can I expect my book? :-) "

Mike replies: The estimate is that most books will ship within three days of ordering. Add ten days or so for in-transit time, and you should have your book in about two weeks, give or take a few days.

Maggie Osterberg: "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've coveted a book of Strand's photographs like the one I just bought for years. And you're so right about his prints—I saw some of them at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) back when I was a student at MCAD and in the dim gallery, they were as dark as a charcoal drawing. I've read that he printed for them to be viewed in sunlit rooms, so he went darker. Don't know if that's true, but it would explain it. Again, thanks to you and Yale for making this book available to me at a price I can afford."

Correction: Book Sale Starts Next Tuesday

I feel sheepish, but I completely forgot about Memorial Day. I mean I didn't forget about the day (or the reason for it), but I forgot it was next Monday. That's what happens when you work at home alone.

So the upcoming book sale will start next TUESDAY, May 30th, a week from today, rather than on Friday as I announced yesterday.

Sorry for the mistake.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

FrankB: "The book sale sounds like a good idea for a hint to the spouse for Father's Day. She is always asking me what I want and this might be a welcome change from the usual shirt that doesn't fit."

Strand/Friedlander Book Sale Starts (not Friday) TUESDAY

The news: all the ducks are in a row, all the systems are go, and we're ready and set to start the next book sale on Friday Tuesday. That's May 26th 30th. It'll be the first post I put up before after the holiday weekend.

We'll be offering three books courtesy of the good people at Yale University Press, our partners for this sale. One volume of the work of Paul Strand, and two by Lee Friedlander. Quite different photographers. All three books are beautiful.

I love these book sales because I truly love photobooks. They've always been a source of pleasure for me. As I've said before, these sales are a "win" for everybody—I make a little money, a publisher finds good homes for some orphaned overstock, and you get great books for a lot less than retail. Not necessarily in that order. (In this case, you'll be able to get $225 worth of books for $79. The only less expensive way to acquire them would be to steal 'em).

If you have any questions please ask, but I'll put all the details in the announcement on Friday Tuesday. Please check back with TOP then, or on the weekend.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Book 'im, Danno
Give Mike a “Like” or Buy yourself something nice

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Next Book Sale Will Happen This Month

Time to announce that I've been working with the prestigious Yale University Press for our next book sale. They supplied all the prospects pictured back in March in this post. If all goes well we'll first be offering three superb recent high-end books. As with the books we offered from the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the exhibitions theses books celebrate are over, sales have slowed at the Museum Stores where they have mainly been offered, and Yale has overstock and wants the books to find good homes where they'll be appreciated—which is where you come in, of course. Two are a matched pair and are cooperative publications, so we've still got some details to iron out with them, but I can tell you about the third.

It's special. It is Yale's reprint of the superlative retrospective of Paul Strand published in 2014 to celebrate the acquisition of the core of Strand's own archive by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

It was edited by Peter Barberie, Brodsky Curator of Photographs at Philadelphia's Alfred Stieglitz Center, with Amanda Bock who was the Assistant Curator for the project. An expensively produced, deluxe hardcover, it's the best single volume on Strand published up to the present moment, incorporating the most recent scholarship and including more than 250 illustrations. The scholarly apparatus is first rate (including an edited transcript of a roundtable discussion among leading scholars, which is unusual), and the excellent reproductions capture some of the magic of original prints and are cumulatively quite moving to look at in my opinion.

Even if you have only one book about Paul Strand in your library, this should be it—I think this hits on all cylinders. So the fact that we'll be offering it for less moolah than you could get it for up till now doesn't even need to enter into your calculations.  ;-)  Overseas shipping will be available and will not be as dear as last time.

Supplies will be limited (but not severely) so I'll give you plenty of advance warning about the start of the sale later this month.

Something to look forward to.

Mike
(Thanks to Jim S. and Keith D.)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Masters of the past and more
Give Mike a “Like” or Buy yourself something nice

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Dave: "Looking forward to it! Awesome!"

MikeR: "The Paul Strand volume is excellent. We already own a copy, from the 2014 show, which itself was an eye-opener. I do believe he would have loved Photoshop!"

Fulvio Senore: "I have that book and I can confirm that it is an excellent one. The image quality is very high and the book contains a lot of interesting information about Paul Strand."

Prints Ship

The prints from our last print sale have begun to ship.

If one is coming to you I think you're in for a treat, and I'm eager to hear what you think. Although my guess is that this is a picture you'll like better after you've lived with it for a while than you will when you first see it. If it occurs to you, in the future, let me know if I'm right about that. John even said he likes it better after printing it for a week.

Thanks again to John Lehet and everyone who participated.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

'Beautiful Bokeh' Print Offer

[JPEG of] photo by John Lehet

During 2017 TOP will be offering four single prints, one per season, all from experienced master printmakers, all reasonably priced. I'm happy to announce our Winter season print sale, the first of 2017. [UPDATE: Sale ended 1/9/17 at noon.]

For John Lehet it's not about the JPEG; it's about the print. A perfectionist photographic printmaker, he studied under John Sexton and transitioned from large- and medium-format darkroom printing to digital printmaking many years ago now. He's a very serious, engaged printmaker with a large body of work and many exhibitions to his credit.

The picture is "Morning Glory Bud In Rain, 2016." It is large for a small print, 13.5 by 20 inches on 17x22-inch paper. The print will be signed on the the front at the lower right; no signature on request.

The cost is only $160, shipping inclusive for domestic U.S. orders and $35 extra for non-U.S. orders. Vermonters will need to pay sales tax. It was pretty nice of John to "go low" on the price for us; helps make a purchase pain-free. This is really not much more than you might pay for a poster of the same size.

Same picture, two different papers

A new wrinkle for TOP: you can choose the same picture on your choice of two different papers, Canson Edition Etching Rag or Canson Baryta Photographique. The differences are subtle yet significant: Etching, a textured matte paper with less tooth than watercolor paper, emphasizes the smooth areas of the photograph, with the paper texture coming forward subtly in the soft washes of bokeh color. At first we were only going to offer the print on this paper. However, John decided to also offer a version on Baryta Photographique, a paper that faithfully echoes the feel of fiber-based black-and-white darkroom prints of old but without the curl. On Baryta Photographique some of the detailed areas of the print render a little more assertively, shifting the emphasis a little more toward the texture of the wet leaf above the bud. Both papers show the pop of detail against the smooth bokeh equally well, and produce clear and real color.

John has recently been obsessed (if that's not too strong a word) with exploring bokeh with his high-end full-frame mirrorless camera, using a variety of older lenses famous among deep connoisseurs. We'll have more information about the equipment used, as well as a fascinating post about meditation and its relationship to photography, as the week progresses.

As always with our sales, we take orders for five days and then close the ordering period so the photographer can get to work on fulfillment. We do not take any more orders once the ordering period has closed. No exceptions (but not to worry—if you miss the sale, you can still order the print from John at any time at the regular price of $475). The "Beautiful Bokeh" sale ends next Monday at noon, Eastern U.S. Time.

I hope you will love this! It really is exceptionally pretty. (Very safe to give as a gift, I might add.) And thanks much for looking.

Mike
(Thanks to J.L.)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Michael Kellough: "Re 'Both papers show the pop of detail against the smooth bokeh equally well, and produce clear and real color.'

"Echoing Dave, in his comment, all we can tell from the photo of both prints side by side is that the color saturation is different in each print. The texture you discuss in describing the difference is not visible in the photo so how about some other clue to distinguish the two papers?"

Mike replies: Actually you can't quite tell that, because you can't see prints in JPEGs of prints. Especially iPhone snap JPEGs that have been reduced to 800 pixels in width and mushed and squished by the blog software. Just sayin'.

My clear favorite between the two papers is the Etching. It's John's preference too. This picture is gorgeous on it. John created an array of tests on a number of papers of various softness and a variety of textures, looking for the perfect match for the image. He tried some papers that were even more matte and had more texture than the Etching paper, but liked them less. He arrived at Canson Etching as having the ideal balance.

We're also offering the Baryta because we know some people have a strong affection for those types of papers (I love them too), and feel "allergic" to papers that are more matte. My experience over many years is that a small minority of people just really don't care for matte papers. The Baryta paper has more gloss and looks more conventional. The picture looks beautiful on that paper too, and, honestly, the differences are pretty slight (and will probably be more so once they're under glass). But if you lack any strong allegiance to traditional Baryta "air dried F surface" type papers, and you're in doubt as to which to get, I'd say go for the Etching. It's amazing.

And finally, if you receive the print on the Etching paper and don't care for it, you can return it to John and he'll send you the more standard Baryta print. (Or your money back, your choice.)

Does this help at all?

Solving Problems

A few brief followups:

• Re "Things Go Wrong," the washing machine repair cost $397.48, more than half the price of a new one; the water heater, replaced under warranty, cost $468.83. My butt hurts like somebody gave me a swift kick in the wallet. Hence....
• B&H sends me a holiday gift card every year to thank me for being an affiliate (thanks B&H!), so I solved my problem of needing IBIS because of my "yips" by putting this year's gift card toward a used Fuji XF 18–55mm OIS lens. Not IBIS, but rather in-lens IS, but I can't afford a new camera right now. (My X-T1 is not even three years old yet and works fine.) 
• Re "The 2017 Novel," I finished Heart of Darkness in 2016 with a little over two hours to spare! However I did not enjoy it. Have decided I do not actually like Conrad, much as I would like to. Went to the attic of the barn and, until my hands got stiff with cold, rummaged through boxes. Found one of my two editions of Moby-Dick; ordered two more...despite the fact that I'm reading an online version (cf. Mrs. Wittig, "all you book collectors are insane").
• To solve the computer problem, I'm using my 13" 2014 MacBook Air as my main computer. I may have already mentioned this. Seems to be working okay, except that not infrequently it makes a giant industrious whooshing noise like it's hot and its fan is blowing, despite the fact that there is no detectable inlets or outlets for air to pass and, if it actually has a fan, I have no idea where they put it. This bears more discussion, but I'm not going to post my thoughts about Apple right now because the new Print Offer starts in the morning and I don't want the Comments to be inundated with talk about computers.

Did I mention the Print Offer starts in the morning? It does. This one is going to be special; I adore this print. I've already found a frame shop in Canandaigua and I've been Scotch-taping John's proof up to the wall here and there in the house to help me decide where to hang it.

More in the morning. Noon actually, to be precise.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Like what you read?
Give Mike a “Like” or Buy yourself something nice

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Jim in Denver: "Earlier this year my mother had to replace her GE clothes dryer, which she bought new in 1967. To say that 'they don't make 'em like they used to' seems accurate in this case."

Rob L.: "The 18–55mm ƒ/2.8–4 is a great lens, that I don't use often simply because the 16mm is so amazing. It's not as great as the Nikon 17–55mm ƒ/2.8, but close, and in fairness about 45 lbs. lighter.  :-)  "

Manuel: "Curiously, I felt a strange lack of attachment when I tried to read Heart of Darkness. It just didn't grip me. When a book doesn't rivet me by page 28, I usually give it up, but I made an extra effort with this one. It didn't work. It's weird that, while being quite straightforward and short, the narrative is boring. I read behemoths like Magic Mountain, with its thorough character and environment depictions—I could actually see Hans Castorp in my head!—and I never felt tired as I did with Heart of Darkness. At least now I know it it's not a translation issue, nor a lack of comprehension."

Mike replies: It might be one of those programmatic novels that's supposed to be one big extended metaphor, so maybe it's gripping to those who know all about the subtext. A novel like that is Andre Dubus III's House of Sand and Fog—supposedly the story of the Middle East conflicts recast as an epic real-estate squabble. I mean the characters are contending over a house. That novel, which I read all the way to the end, infuriated me—the whole programmatic premise seems utterly disreputable to me. I felt betrayed that the author wasn't true to the humanity of his characters, but had made them into straw dogs in his programmatic agenda. This I suppose is a matter of taste. Or ethics, or something.

Kev Ford: "The MacBook Air vents out of the gap between the main body and the screen. There is a fan that pushes air out that is a little like a water-wheel. It's normal for the fan to come on occasionally; the fan will lower the temperature quite far below where it needs to be before turning off and allowing the heat to build up again."

Upcoming Winter Print

John Lehet by MJ

Please put aside a little of the money you get for Christmas or Hanukkah for our Winter-quarter print offer!

I've been living with all of the proof prints for six days now, and it took John (the photographer) and me four days to sift through the possibilities and make a decision—he sent many variations of several prints on many papers, which were virtually all "good but different." After considering many options, we went in the direction of simplicity and purity: we'll be offering only one image at one size on one type of paper. A rather radical choice in certain ways, as you will see.

Vermont photographer John Lehet would never say this about himself, I'm almost sure, but, knowing him, I feel comfortable saying that photographic prints in his case are just the visual manifestations of his spiritual voyage—he's a longtime Buddhist who has been deeply involved in meditation practice for many years*. Accepting his work this way opens it up for me.

John is deeply into process, which I would define as the methods used to sort, clarify, and redact one's work into final form, and we'll talk about that—John is unusually insightful on that subject. The equipment he used will be fun to discuss, too.

Although of the highest possible quality in every way, the Winter Print will not be expensive, either.

That's all I'll say for now. We will offer four single prints in 2017, all by different master printmakers—one during each of the four seasons**. As for John's photograph, we won't decide on the date of the "reveal" until after Christmas, but it will be in the first few days of January.

Mike

*When I asked him if it was okay if I said this, he said yes, but added a paragraph explaining with uncommon thoughtfulness why he doesn't care for the word "spiritual." I should see if I can get him to write a short post about meditation—that would be very interesting.

**Also, I'm discussing bargain photo book sales with other publishers, too. More fun in the New Year.

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Help Support Mike or TOP
Give the writer a small gift or Patronize our affiliates

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Beautiful Bokeh

...And now for something completely different, as Monty Python used to say. TOP's own Print Sale for this season will feature two absolutely lovely color prints, quite different from each other, that both have a radical amount of bokeh.

Bokeh as many of you know is a term derived from the Japanese that means "out-of-focus blur" but is shorter to say and easier to write. Many photographs do not have any out-of-focus blur; many photographs have a little; a few have a great deal, and, in a very small percentage of cases, photographers deliberately use bokeh as a creative element.

As is the case with our two sale pictures.

The prints are made by a master printer who has been refining his printing techniques, skills, and style since taking a workshop from some guy named Ansel Adams a number of decades ago. He also loves to experiment with a variety of fine and expensive papers to get just the right effect...

...And that is where we are right now. John is experimenting with papers, FedEx is en route to me with proofs; the process continues.

Much to be done. It's a several-week-long process with many steps to present a print sale. As you might imagine, though, this one is close to my heart. I love these. I am trying not to suggest print sizes based on where they will go in my house.

More news about the beautiful bokeh print sale soon. The pictures are quite different from anything we've ever offered before. And yep, the lenses used were chosen for their bokeh properties. Of course we'll eventually fill you in on all the geeky details about that as well.

The Turnley Twins
Peter Turnley's holiday print sale is over now, but his twin brother David's is still going on. David and Rachel are once again offering prints of a wide selection of David's award-winning work as a photojournalist. David and Rachel, like Peter, have kindly offered to share a referral fee to TOP if you mention you came from here. Scroll to the bottom of the sale page to order. Tell your friends!

David Turnley and Jim Harbaugh, who have both returned to the University of Michigan after impressive careers out in the world

Mike

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Like what you read?
Join our support campaign or buy something

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Peter Turnley Has Changed His Mind

=

Change of mind is not inconsistency. —Cicero

-

It's not too late to mention this—almost, but not quite!

You remember a few days ago I mentioned that Peter Turnley is having his annual Paris Print Sale. I also said that the prints would be inkjet prints for the first time.

That has changed. In his most recent e-mail blast about the sale, Peter announced that "The prints are signed traditional silver gelatin fiber prints. I have decided to offer silver gelatin prints to maintain continuity will all previous printings of my photographs."

I know Peter is more than happy with the quality of the inkjet prints that have recently been made from his work—but all the prints shipped for this sale will be traditional silver gelatin black-and-white prints. (No telling if this will be the last time.)

Thought you'd want to know.

Note that anyone who orders two or more prints will receive a free, signed, slipcased, hardcover copy of Peter's most recent book Cuba: A Grace of Spirit.

Tomorrow is the last full day of the Paris Classics offer, so it's not too late!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Lawrence Plummer: "I had been very close to asking you about the prints when I saw that they were inkjet. I was wondering what happened to Voja Mitrovic! I still marvel at the three prints I picked up in your sales that were printed by Voja. They are superb."

Mike replies: Voja retired many years ago but, as a favor, continued to print for a small, select group of his friends, all of whom happened to be world-renowned photographers. I gather he has now retired from that retirement, although I don't communicate with him directly and don't really know the story. Although getting up in years, he is well.

Paris For Christmas

Photo by Peter Turnley

It's not an official TOP print sale, but our friend Peter Turnley is having a holiday sale of the most popular of his fine art prints of Paris, at significantly discounted prices.

The selection is broader than it has been in our sales, and includes several new images. See the pictures.

If you're one of the many people who have ordered one of these fine prints through us in the past, I don't have to tell you that they make outstanding gifts. The prints are expertly crafted archival pigment inkjet prints using the very finest materials. The image quality is outstanding and the LE (life expectancy) of the physical prints is likely to be measured in the hundreds of years. And they'll be beautifully packaged. Just add wrapping paper.

Peter has generously offered to share a bit of his profit if you indicate you heard about the sale from TOP (there's a drop-down menu at the bottom of the sale page.)

The grand tradition
I have the new picture reproduced above, and the older print of the French gentleman reading a newspaper in a bistro is prominently displayed on my kitchen/dining room wall, effectively in the very middle of my house.

Peter has lived in Paris for more than 40 years, using it as his base for his top-level photojournalism career. His romantic and beautiful Paris work, which he deliberately undertook as an antidote to having to photograph (and witness) war and suffering the world over, embodies his humanity, goodwill, and fellow-feeling—all that is right and beautiful about humanity. It is part of the great tradition of the romantic street photographers of Paris that includes Willy Ronis, Brassaï, André Kertesz, his friends and colleagues Robert Doisneau and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and his late good friend and mentor Édouard Boubat.

Check it out!

Mike
(Thanks to Peter and Laura)

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

A Foundation Stone of Your Photography Library

My old book stand is an antique—I inherited
it—but here's something similar.

Our current book sale is ending soon. Sorry, I should set that off for emphasis—

BOOK SALE IS ENDING SOON!

The fire-sale price is only $32.50 for brand new, unread copies of Keith Davis's excellent The Origins of American Photography. It won't be the last opportunity to own the book, but it's probably the last time you'll be able to order a new copy easily, and for so little.

It's not too late. To order, go to this link and then enter the code "12555" at checkout. (Note that the discount doesn't show up until the last screen.)

Get it while you can! (Did I miss my calling as a marketer? My son is just about to graduate from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh with a degree in marketing, and I'm near to busting with pride that he's accepted a very good job at a very good salary with a major corporation. He's a comer. Raised by hand, he was.)

I think of certain histories as being the foundation of my library. The two-volume set of Keith's An American Century of Photography and the present volume—telling the story of photography in America from its beginnings to approximately the year 2000—is one of those foundation-stones.

Guys with guns

This book covers less time than the other volume, but just as much change. The 19th century in America was tumultuous and fractious. Think about it: this book covers the Civil War, the building of the railroads, waves of immigration, and the exploration of the Wild West.

There's something elemental about the deliberateness of early portraits.

I've noted before that you don't actually have to read books like this to get a lot of out them. This is a large, thick, heavy book, with copious amounts of illustrations, and the repro quality is very good. You can enjoy it just as a picture book, paging slowly through it and savoring its curated collection of hundreds of fine historical images.

I use the word "curated" advisedly—Keith Davis's own origins were as a connoisseur. He was the curator in charge of putting together the Hallmark Collection, one of the major photography collections in America and in the World. (Someday I will get to Kansas City and write up my visit for you.) He has a great eye for photographs, something that can't quite be said for every museum curator out there.

The opening of the West falls within the time period covered

A feature of both books is that the illustrations are not just "the usual suspects." Lots of photography books are put together, let's just say, a little more cynically—the authors are book-aggregators hired by publishers to churn out coffee-table volumes for stocking bookstores. Not so here. Keith deliberately made the decision to mix well-known images with lesser-known ones. As an example, I have a number of volumes in my library about Daguerreotypes (I'm not exactly certain why, except that when you buy books, sometimes you just get started down a particular trail and it becomes self-perpetuating—I have a poet friend who found himself collecting volumes of Dante that way, despite not having a particular interest in Dante. But I digress.) Anyway, I'm familiar with a lot of Daguerreotypes, and this book has a lot of them that I've never seen.

A book for readers as well

I don't mean to short the text! Keith is an excellent writer, and the text is erudite but accessible, meant to be read, and able to be read with pleasure. And this isn't just a picture book with an essay or two at the beginning to underpin the pictures with a little intellectual weight—the text is generous and runs throughout the volume.

A wonderful earlier book is Photography and the American Scene by Robert Taft, reprinted by Dover and available as a free download. These books easily supersede that one, though.

I don't have a very current count, but I believe we've already sold around 300 copies. There should be plenty left, so if you'd like to Tweet this, or mention it on other forums you visit, or put it out there on other photography websites, please do. (For one thing, TOP gets a little cut, and every little cent [the United States doesn't actually have coin called a "penny," did you know that?] will go toward my new computer. I seriously need a new computer...it took fifteen minutes to get this one started this morning, and that handwriting is very much on that wall.)

How to order: go to the book page at the Nelson-Atkins Museum bookstore and then enter the special discount code "12555" at checkout. If you have any problems for any reason, let me know and I'll pass your email along to the bookstore staff, and they can help you.

If you already ordered, shipments begin Monday (November 14th). So if you order now you'll get yours before very long.

I think you'll like this! Hope you do.

Thanks again to Keith and the good folks at the Nelson-Atkins Museum for making this possible.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Book it!
Join our support campaign or buy something

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Book Sale: 'Origins of American Photography'

As a matched pair, the very best history of American photography

Here we go! Last February we hosted a very large book sale—of a very large book—for Keith F. Davis, the noted author, photo historian, and Senior Curator of Photography at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. The book was the magnificent An American Century of Photography: from Dry-Plate to Digital, a literally weighty tome which covers American photography from 1885 to the recent turn of the millennium.

On offer now is the companion volume to that book, Origins of American Photography: from Daguerreotype to Dry-Plate, covering its subject from the pioneering generation up to 1885, the point at which the second book begins.

Although it is a companion book, completing the other, it's perfectly enjoyable as a stand-alone single title about the rich and riotous early days of photography in North America.

The book was originally published at $65, and was a fine bargain at that price. For a limited time, thanks to Keith and his associates at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, we are offering it here on TOP, exclusively, for 50% off—only $32.50. Note that these are all brand new books, not seconds, not used, and not shopworn.

How to Buy

To purchase yours, please go to this link and then enter the code "12555" at checkout to get our discount. Note that you can also get the same discount in person at the Museum as long as you know the code.

We're not "protecting" this information, so you're welcome to share it. However, there are fewer books available this time than last, so you might be well advised to order your copy before posting the link to big photo sites!

Domestic shipping is only $12.95. Unavoidably, international shipping is $100, same as last time*.

The sale will continue for 30 days or until the supply of books runs out, whichever comes first.

As I mentioned last time, although the text is uncommonly readable and engaging, the book is worth its price just as a picture book. It's loaded with illustrations, many of them unusual, and the reproduction quality is very high for this type of book. Just paging through it and enjoying the pictures is rewarding.

Hope you like! I just love Keith's books and have gotten a great deal of enjoyment from these, although (fortunately!) I'm nowhere near finished reading both of them. More pleasure awaits.

Mike
(Thanks to Keith Davis and the Nelson-Atkins Museum, and
Brian Day and his staff and helpers at the Museum Store)

*This will be disappointing to some readers so it bears a little explanation...the books are big and heavy, and the Museum Store is largely responsible for sales within the Museum itself...they normally do very little mail order and almost none to other countries. Groups of volunteers assist with packaging and mailing to the U.S., but shipments to other countries unfortunately require a lot of time and attention from staffers. Hence the high price.

If the Book Depository ships to your country, the overall price will be less for you if you order it there. I'm not sure how many books they have, however.

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Thomas J. Burleson: "Another winner, Mike; thanks for arranging it. All the previous books have been exceptionally useful in helping an assortment of aspiring young photographers of my acquaintance understand why cellphone cameras and Instagram are only a place to start. This book should help them understand how we got to this point."

John Camp: "Is the first book, An American Century of Photography: Dry Plate to Digital, still available?"

Mike replies: It was when you asked this question, but now it looks like it is not. At least from the Museum. You might still try the usual suspects, Amazon and the Book Depository. Or, if you can settle for a used copy, Abebooks.com or eBay > Books.

Peter Williams: "I know you live in the USA, but these books sales are pretty off-putting for your international readers."

Mike replies: We're a bit between a rock and a hard place. As I explained, that's just what it costs; the Museum doesn't want to lose money, which is reasonable. If they were set up for international shipping on a regular basis, I'm sure they could get the cost down drastically, but, as I've explained, they're not, because they don't ordinarily do any international shipping. On the other hand, if we refuse to sell to international readers altogether, it creates alienation—we've done that a few times in the past and the complaints can be bitter.

As antidote, consider that in numerous print sales, American readers have paid a little more in shipping than the actual cost so that international buyers can pay a little less than their actual cost (whenever you see the same shipping cost for U.S. and overseas, that probably pertains), meaning that American buyers have subsidized international shipping somewhat in those cases.

I've given the best alternative I know of in the footnote above, and I apologize again that we can't level this particular playing field. But we can't.

Notice: Next Book Sale Begins Next Tuesday!

Our next installment in presenting the work of the most excellent Keith F. Davis, curator and author extraordinaire and one of Yr. Hmbl. Ed.'s favorite writers on photography, begins next Tuesday. We will be offering a limited number of copies of The Origins of American Photography: From Daguerreotype to Dry-Plate, 1839-1885: The Hallmark Photographic Collection at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art at a greatly reduced price. They are brand new books, protected, pristine, never touched by human hands, found in long-sealed crates in the ancient skull-encrusted bone-dry catacombs far beneath the massive walls of the Museum.

Okay, that last bit is me getting carried away. But they are brand new, never read, and the price will be very, very nice.

The new sale starts next Tuesday.

The book can of course be read alone; it covers its time period comprehensively. However, it was conceived and written to form a matched set when paired with An American Century of Photography: From Dry Plate to Digital, which we offered for a discounted price last February. The two books together comprise the best and most complete current history of American photography to the end of the 20th century. Like An American Century, Origins is copiously and beautifully illustrated and written in a readable, engaging style.

There are fewer copies available of Origins, but enough that you won't need to order absolutely immediately. The sale will run for thirty days or until we run out of books, whichever comes first. Please check back on Tuesday for more information.

Mike
(Thanks as usual to Keith and all the good folks at the Museum)

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Book us for the future:
Join our support campaign or buy something

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Weese Platinum Prints Have Shipped

All of the 7x17 platinum/palladium prints from our most recent sale have now shipped (except for one or two where the buyers have made special arrangements). Please allow up to ten days for your prints to arrive—three weeks if you are overseas. After that, you can contact Carl or me if you have any problems. We will replace damaged or lost prints, so don't worry if the boat bringing yours to you is slow. You're covered.

Big thanks everyone who participated!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Like what you read?
Join our support campaign or buy something

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Geoff Wittig: "Just by patronizing TOP's print sales for a couple of years, I've acquired exquisite examples of a range of photographic print technologies. Dye transfer, high-end inkjet, gelatin silver, and now platinum/palladium. Sort of like my own little museum collection. And at amazingly affordable prices! Thanks again, Mike; and thanks to all the photographers/printers who have shared their beautiful work. Cibachrome/Ilfochrome might be cool; just sayin'.  :-)  "

Rob: "My wife and I received our print of 'Fog' today and it is absolutely gorgeous. I think these prints really have to be seen in person to be appreciated: the detail is immersive, both from normal viewing distances and close up. This is the second print we've bought through TOP print sales, and it's a fine companion for Peter Turnley's 'Paris.' Looking forward to next year's sale!"

Russell Jacobs: "Took forever to mat and frame my 'Fog'...viewing the image up close is a near mystical experience. Exceeded my wildest expectations. Much thanks for sponsoring these sales."

Great News!

I'm very happy to announce that we will soon be hosting a sale of American photography curator Keith F. Davis's magnificent 2007 book The Origins of American Photography. The book is the companion volume to An American Century of Photography (1999) from our previous sale, and is similar to it in size, scope, and quality.

The full title is The Origins of American Photography: From Daguerreotype to Dry-Plate, 1839-1885: The Hallmark Photographic Collection at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. As soon as I got my copy of American Century, last Winter, I bought Origins from Amazon. The two make a matched set.

Like last time, the price will be very low and an extremely good value. We will be selling brand new books, surplus from the Museum Store's stock in storage.

I've very pleased about this. These two books together comprise the most thorough and up-to-date history of American photography, with a very readable text and copious amounts of outstanding illustrations. More news as I have it.

See you Monday! Have a nice weekend—and take some pictures if you can.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Like what you read?
Join our support campaign or buy something

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!