Blather
On this website you will find a sizable collection of my photographic work. All prints are contact prints from 4 x 5, 8 x 10, or 20 x 24 negatives. These 20 x 24 contact prints were made in collaboration with my friend Everitt Clark.
I work exclusively in black-and-white, silver gelatin prints. Most of my prints are unique-- I often only make a single print from a negative. Some negatives that seem to me to possess a great potential for different interpretations get printed a few more times... but I don't think I've ever made more than seven or eight prints from any of my negatives.
I used to use a 4 x 5 view camera, but I sold that a few years ago and bought an 8 x 10, with which I've been very happy (though I do still miss the intimacy of 4 x 5 contacts from time to time). My process often involves extensive amounts of hand-work using a potassium ferricyanide based "bleach" and a great deal of spottone, both of which I use liberally to adjust the values of the print. This is, of course, in addition to the darkroom based procedures of dodging, burning, water-bath development, and occasionally various others. I exclusively contact print because I am fond of small-scale works and because I miss the tonal values that I think are lost with even a moderate degree of enlargement.
The device used to make the 20 x 24 photographs is essentially an old-fashioned camera obscura. It was constructed by fitting a lens into a door, on one side of which is a set of lights and the subject of the photograph, and on the other side of which is a completely light-tight dark room-- essentially the interior of a giant camera. When the lens in the door was open, the image of the subject would be projected into the dark room and onto a home-made focusing ground glass plate mounted in a wooden bracket. Either Everitt or I would be on the lighted side of the door, manipulating the subject, while the other moved the ground glass in order to focus the image. Once the image looked right, the lens would be closed, leaving the dark room in complete darkness. A single sheet of 20 x 24 film was then carefully fitted into place against the focusing glass, and an exposure was made by opening the lens for a few seconds and then closing it again. The film was then removed from the holder and developed in trays of chemicals. This large sheet of film was then contact-printed leading to a large print with an extremely broad tonal range and level of detail.
I’ve been inspired by artists from several different traditions. As my work has developed, I have incorporated influences such as the dense tonalities of paintings by old masters like Titian and Rembrandt, the sinuous abstraction of reality found in Chinese and Japanese painters like Bada Shanren and Ito Jakuchu, the evocative crudity of many 19th century photographs, and formal innovations within modernist photography made by artists such as Frederick Sommer.
Most of my images are untitled.
Prints of all the images on the site are available for sale. Costs are $175 for 4 x 5’s, $250 for 8 x 10’s, and $750 for 20 x 24’s. Prints come unframed, dry-mounted on 100% cotton rag museum board. Mounting size can vary slightly, but is usually 8 x 9”, 13 x 15”, and 32 x 40”, respectively, for the three sizes of photographs. Shipping is $15, $20, and $70, respectively, for the three sizes of photographs. Contact me at AndrewPZimmermann@gmail.com with any questions.