Ik ben bezig met het afdrukken van deze serie zwart-witfoto’s en eindelijk gaat nu goed. De afdrukken op Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique II (bedenk eens zo’n naam voor een papiersoort) zien er erg mooi uit.
Nu wil ik de resultaten van dit werk delen, dus moet ik een goede foto van de afdruk maken. Dat is niet zo eenvoudig als het lijkt. Ondanks de glans van het papier reflecteert de afdruk licht, waardoor er donkere vlekken op de foto ontstaan. Niet zo mooi.
I am massively enjoying making these prints of my black-and-white Polder project. I also like printing in the darkroom but never got to do it.
Before the black-and-white project, I have always photographed in color for no other reason than to limit my options. For more than ten years, I shot with little direction. Consequently, my work is all over the place. I have always liked this, and still do. I do not like to put any boundaries on my work a priori, but at the same time, I wanted to create a more consistent piece of work.
Looking for a more intentional, focused project, I began to analyze the pictures from the past decade and stumbled on my polder landscape pictures. I like a couple of them, but I found for a larger work, the dominating green color became problematic. So, I tried to convert a couple to black-and-white, and I liked the result. So I crawled through my archive and surfaced about 200 acceptable images, which I further edited down to some 40 pictures.
When converting to black and white, you find that some pictures do not work in black and white. B&W needs more rest. Where color may divide a picture into spaces, after converting it into black and white, the result may be a headache of grey tones and forms.
Color pictures, I think, have a closer relation to reality, opening a broader palette to distort that reality and create an interesting image. On the other hand, Black and white pictures can have a more poetic, sometimes dreamy effect. Black and white pictures, I think, need more space and benefit more from careful design-like composition (though I am not a fan of the word composition in photography). That is probably also why snapshot-type pictures work best in color.
Anyway, I searched for some nice papers (a rabbit hole in itself), and a friend advised me to use Canson Baryta Photographique II or RAG Photograpique Matte. Never mind the name. The first is a fine art luster-type paper, and the second is a high-grade matte paper. I started with the Baryta and liked it so much I have not even tried the RAG/Matte. By the way, I am printing on an Epson p600, a good entry-level pro photo printer with good ink.
Here are some results. Needless to say, taking (iPhone) pictures of photo prints does not serve them as it should.
Fablabs are global network maker labs that give individuals access to tools for digital fabrication. They Are also a learning and innovation platform based on open-source principles. In the article, Gershenfeld explains how manufacturing technology changed in a few decades. New technologies became available that allowed for ‘additive manufacturing.’ That means that instead of making things by cutting away material, like in milling processing and wood carving, 3D printing tools could build things by adding material.
These new tools became available to the public at affordable prices. Gershenfeld uses the analogy with personal computing. At first, large and expensive computers were only affordable for large organizations. In the 1980s, personal computers became more and more accessible to individuals at home.
Similarly, 3D printing technology, laser cutters, and other technology have become affordable for individuals. These developments changed manufacturing principles. In the past things were made for the masses to keep things affordable, but now, products can be created for the market of one.
Fablab at Waag, Amsterdam
Fablabs further lower the bar for access to such tools by making them available as a shared platform. Now, you can make things you can buy, customize them to your own needs and tastes, and have them produced locally.
According to Gershenfeld, the next phase would be the creation of digital assemblers, which are Lego-like structures on a much smaller scale (nano-level) that allow the building and recreation of structures. Ultimo assemblers could build assemblers.
In the article, Gershenfeld discusses the potential dangers of this technology (I would generalize this to any technology): it could produce weapons and jeopardize intellectual property.
So, do we need to regulate these technologies? Very difficult. And how would it help against bad actors? Regarding intellectual Property rights, Gershenfeld promotes the idea of open source. In Fablabs, like in the software industry, open source has become the norm. Communities have sprung up, helped by digital communication. Fablabs allow communities to address local demands and create what is locally needed. Gershenfeld emphasizes the key innovation potential of this movement. Innovative people question assumptions, and communities drive innovation. This development provides an open innovation space to many more people outside known situations, and it can potentially change the culture.
