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| Madeleine Morris |
My Kits
house has no more room for framed pictures on the wall. Most of them are family
portraits. Because as a portrait photographer I always wanted unsmiling eye
contact, I am constantly haunted by their stares starting in my bedroom, the
hallways, the kitchen, the living room, the dining room and the guest room.
Every time I
look at one of them I am like Marcel Proust dipping a madeleine into tea. I am overwhelmed
by how it was I took the portrait and what I indicated to my subjects what they
should do.
These days,
with my newish 28 inch Acer monitor, I am browsing through my extensive files
both in my computer and in my metal negative and slide files inside my 7 metal
cabinets with four drawers each.
Today I
explored that of Morris, Madeleine whom I photographed for many years. In the
file I found this little deteriorated
3x5 inch print. I do not remember why I printed it. I found the
yellowing beautiful. The yellowing happened because the glossy, plastic coated
Ilford paper was not archival. The paper was manufactured to satisfy the
pre-scanner ability of the paper to dry glossy without having to use those
complicated glossy making dryers (I had one!). Glossy 8x10s were the only way
blacks were reproduced as blacks in magazines and newspapers. The scanner made
the paper irrelevant.
I call the
yellowing Ilford Degeneration.
This print
is lovely. You might note that Morris posed with her pet mouse.
I sometimes despair that I am unable to convince my peers of the value of my Epson V700 scanner.