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ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Fred has studied fine art photography at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and at the Center of the Eye Photography School in Aspen, Colorado. He has participated in several fine art photographic workshops in the New England area. Fred holds a Masters of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois. A mid-westerner most of his life, Fred lives in Geneva, Illinois with his wife. His two children live in New York and Atlanta.
LARGE FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHY
For nearly two decades, Fred has become increasingly active in large format photography. His subject matter ranges from landscape to architecture to urban form and activity. The fine detail and rich tonal values help achieve his photographic objective of translating genuine and common objects into rhythmic two-dimensional expressions. All of Fred’s prints are printed and matted on archival and acid free (museum standard) materials. Prints are toned with selenium or sepia for permanence.
FOCUS ON QUALITY
Fred ensures that his photographs reflect on the highest quality by using black and white sheet film, fiber based photographic papers and zone system exposures. He never compromises on the quality of his work as he creates images that precisely capture his vision by using field cameras and modern, high quality lensing as well as traditional optical printing techniques. Fred is not involved with digital photography as an art form.
PYRO FILM DEVELOPMENT
Recently, Fred has begun to work with pyro (pyrogallol) film developer, which was used by Adams, Weston, Strand and others. Pyro, which remains a revered art tool despite its absence from commercial use is the oldest developer of silver photographic plates provides a definite increase in both printing quality and its capacity to record subtle differences of light.
FRED’S THOUGHTS ON DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
In 1995 I purchased my first large format camera system. It was made up of three lenses and a wooden 4X5 field camera. I have never looked back. It was always a goal of mine to make images from large format film and I was happy to have the opportunity. With a rekindled interest in my personal photography I began shooting, processing, and printing 4X5 black and white film almost every day. Since 1995 the photography industry in all aspects has gone through a tremendous change. In short photography has faced indignity from capture, to image printing to file storage. However for my personal expression through photography this change has not changed my work (at least not yet). What started to be just the right way of taking pictures using the zone system to making fine prints using fiber base paper has now turned into a unique art form.
I have participated in juried art fairs since 2003. In each fair I spend a good amount of time explaining to my patrons how my images are different from almost all other photographers exhibiting in the fairs. I explain that most of the others are digital while mine are silver fiber base images. I also explain these digital folks can print one or one hundred of the same image exactly the same way very quickly and very easily. I hand print each image using traditional methods and materials. Each print is individually toned for permanence and washed for one hour in running water. The result is an image with phenomenal visual atmosphere and depth.
How long I will continue to work with traditional materials and standards remains to be seen. A lot depends on the companies that manufacture the film, paper, and chemistry. Also a lot has to do with the airline industry security techniques. For example you cannot pack any light sensitive material in checked luggage. All checked luggage is scanned and the result is imprinted lines and fogging. However, if I find a capture device that gives me the same connection with the subject that a piece of 4X5 film can and allows me to record the image in almost any lighting condition, I might look into this in a serious way.
RECOMMENDED WEBSITES
http://www.johnsexton.com/sextonnewsletter.html
http://enhanced.lenswork.com/lwcollection.htm
