Artistic Intention

Analogue photography is magic. Let me explain this. When I focus on my subject and choose the shutter speed and aperture for the effects I want such as the depth of focus; and once I have chosen my position in relation to the subject and finally decide to press the shutter release button, I have seemingly captured an instant. The instant remains nevertheless elusive.

Whatever I think might turn out to be the result remains nothing more than speculation. Although I need to take into account many factors such as having to choose the film and the sensitivity at which I will be using it in conjunction with the scene contrast and the developer which will reveal the image on the emulsion, they are all just intended to make it possible to carry out a process that might produce some magically transformed transposition of my mind’s eye intention. I always know that the result, once I am done with developing the film and have printed a contact sheet, will never look like what inspired the process when I pressed the shutter release button.

The magic, if magic indeed happens, takes place in between the time at which I take the picture and the time I see the result when I examine my contact sheet. Holding my breath, I examine the images on the contact sheet, as I know that most times there is nothing there that looks pleasing. You are probably asking “so where is the magic?” The answer is there might be one or two frames on that sheet that emerge as something beyond my expectations. The result of my interaction with my subject as well as with the environment only sometimes results in an image that is more evocative than I had hoped for. Those are the seeds of my art.

The artwork itself is yet to be made. The next step is the meticulous process of enlarging that spectral seed and turning it into a mature creation. A creation that will evoke the subtle emotional awe that is sparked when I see the tiny 24×36 mm miniature image on the contact sheet. Now it is no longer magic that guides the work. At this point I will make apparent, or rather bring to the fore the beauty I had seen. This is a process of cajoling the image with a sort of love that hopefully will mature to express what I found so compelling.

The reality that inspired the picture is now slowly fading to be replaced by the picture now created. From now on, the experience of the original instant is replaced by the emotions summoned by seeing the photograph. Finally, the recollection of the inspiring original event is completely replaced by the photograph I have created of it.

Through the process I described, which involves interacting with the image object over time until the photograph emerges as a medium for reviving my memory of the captured moment, my artistic intention is for the photograph to elicit emotion by providing a fictionalized reality with which the viewer may also have some sort of internal conversation.

The process

Once the film is hand-processed, a contact sheet is made from the original film negative in the lab. Frames that I have chosen are first printed small so that they can be better examined. A picture that compels me to see it even larger will be again printed to a larger dimension. If this intermediary image still holds potential for a successful photograph, I will only then begin to work on baryta-coated fiber-based paper. I use different paper to produce different effects as the gelatin silver emulsion of each has its characteristics as well as a paper base that will produce a different tint. I sometimes print the same negative on different papers, until I achieve the result I want.

Each print is individually made. There is a myriad of factors that play into the result and so every print is unique. No print is entirely identical to another. Though, any such variation cannot be perceived unless the prints are set side by side, enabling to discern an eventual very subtle infinitely slight shift for example in the position of the photograph on the sheet of photographic paper. Any print that does not satisfy my unforgiving eye will be destroyed. The final result must be perfect, including any retouching if spotting takes place of a spec that needs to be removed.

There is no scanning or any use of digital technologies to produce the artwork. Each photograph originates as an exposure on film, which I develop by hand. The final print is made directly from the original negative in the darkroom, without scanning or other digital intermediary. The printing process ends after the print is washed for permanency, treated for conservation to maximize long-term stability of the print and dried.

© Jonathan Kaplan. This text may not be reproduced without the author’s permission. Non-commercial quotation is permitted provided the original author and source are clearly acknowledged.