Journal of the Yorkshire Monochrome Group

Has anyone been watching the BBC 4 programme on TV, 'The Genius of Photography' which is a six-part series about the history of photography? The first in the series was called 'Fixing the Shadows' and dealt with the work of Deguerre and Fox Talbot. The third programme in the series may be seen at 8 pm on Monday 12th on BBC 4 and it will be about how history has been shaped by photography. On Thursday 15th at 9 pm the fourth programme in the series may be seen.

If you haven't already been to visit the top floor of the Graves Art Gallery, Surrey Street in Sheffield it is a pleasure not to be missed. For here you will see an exhibition principally in B & W of photography that illustrates responses to the changing landscape from the 1860's to the present day.

There are images by Tim O'Sullivan, Ansel Adams's Mount Williamson (see above) Harry Callahan and Alfred Stieglitz's 'Equivalents'. I was surprised how small these were—only 5" x 4". And Robert Adams of 'the new topographics' All American you may think, but they did dominate the 19th c and early 20th c. However, the 20th c is well represented by British talent. There are Bill Brandt's brooding images, John Blakemore and Raymond Moore applying the 'equivalent' tradition to the British landscapes. There are also Paul Graham's social landscapes and John Davies's urban industrial landscapes and this is someone who might be interesting to see at the YMG. I have only referenced a few from a broad selection. There are many others from as far a field as Japan and Canada.

ANYONE else would want protective clothing to take photographs of riot police in action - or at least to be paid. Not Des Clinton. Irish-born Des grew up on a farm in Drogheda, border country about 10 miles from N Ireland, so knows a thing or two about the Troubles. As he admitted to us: "I go into places I’m told not to go. Hopefully after this you will see why." Life in Ireland is very different to what we know, and some of Des's pictures very much reflect that - armed police in riot gear separating two groups of people and roadside signs in the countryside warning 'sniper at work.' Des started taking pictures at the age of 13 and joined the Royal and Irish Photographic Federation when his photography was in the doldrums and he wanted to improve.

A school teacher by profession, he is fanatical about old photographs, which has been collecting for last 30 years. Recently he had 100 of them framed in an exhibition in his local library as a history of the town in photographs. He printed many of them himself. Des said: "It is what I wanted to do. Hopefully I have preserved them for 100 to 200 years for future generations." That statement reflects the theme flowing through Des's work. He spends his time seeking out things to record and document before they pass into folklore. He said: "I look at things that are different and maybe won’t be there in 20 years. If I go out I try to come back with a set of pictures." Des introduced us to the 'urban cowboys' - children aged 13ᆢ who ride horses bareback around parts of Dublin. He said: "I wanted to document  this area because it's changing. Another 10 years and it will be all gone. "I was warned not to go there - 'you will be knifed, your camera will be stolen.' But I've never once had a problem. They want to have their photographs taken with their horses." He was invited to take pictures in a monastery and spent about three weeks there, resulting in 86 exhibition pictures. Another event he has documented is a religious pilgrimage which involves climbing and descending a mountain. Des said: "I went to record it before it dies." The tradition of musicians arriving at the local pub with an instrument, getting a pint, then knocking out a tune with whoever else is there is also alive and well in Des's photographs, as is Mother Theresa, who Des managed to photograph during a local visit. All except one or two he showed us were darkroom prints. He "almost lived" in the darkroom until disaster struck in 2003 - 4 when he became allergic to the chemicals. He said: "Luckily for me, digital was starting to come in. My biggest regret is having to give up the darkroom. I don't get the same satisfaction  but, because I can't go in the darkroom now, I am delighted with the results I get digitally." He now has an Epson 2400 and for the first time thinks he's getting close to how he printed in the darkroom days.

Some people think digital printing is easier than darkroom printing, but I disagree. If you print with black only inks you finish with a print that looks blue or sepia. If you use all the colours you finish with prints that appear a different colour under a different light. They look green under day light, magenta under fluorescent light and brown under tungsten. All of which bare little comparison with prints on silver paper. Even using all the inks it is still difficult to produce the print that you see on the screen, even if you have managed to calibrate your monitor, and have the appropriate .icc profile for your printer, for your ink and for your paper.

For those like me who are struggling to produce quality prints I have found a web site which is informative on the matter.

It is the web site of a black and white printer guru Clayton Jones.

That can be found at cjcom.net