On Monday this week Mike Russell and I had the distinct privilege of meeting an extraordinary artist and gentleman
We went to his residence in the San Francisco area and had a very interesting and wide ranging discussion on topics from "Artistic Expectations" to what it takes to write a weekly column on the web. Ctein was engaging and cordial. I found myself feeling like I had known him for years rather than the roughly hour and 1/2 that we visited. Having read some of his works and admired his prints via the web in no way prepared me for meeting him; and while I do not wish to gush over about him, I came away from the meeting completely wishing I had an additional 15 to 20 years to converse with and learn from him.
Some things that I came away from the meeting will certainly stick with me for quite some time to come and for that I am glad. An example of this is his column about exposure based on histograms.
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2011/10/expose-to-the-right-is-a-bunch-of-bull.html
Prior to meeting him, I read this article and thought "well that certainly makes perfect sense.." and I thus started my trip to the California coast by making sure that I tried to take this technique into account. I exposed as I normally would and then I re-exposed as he advocated. I have to say that I find my normally exposed images to be more difficult to adjust and I have had to fight a bit for some of the detail I want in the surf and other bright highlights. Chalk one up for Ctein so far....
As for writing for the web...something I am struggling with frequently as I go forward with Curvemeister and teaching...his frank assessment of the reader and expectations placed upon the writer left me with much to chew upon; it is safe to say that there are far worse things to be known for than writing poorly on the web...again something for me to chew upon at length..and yet again thanks go to Ctein...
Now at last the to the images that Ctein produces. I was frankly astounded by the level of technical detail and image quality that Ctein was able to place into both the Dye Transfer prints; for which he is world renowned; and the inkjet prints which he should be even more renowned for. It was nothing short of stunning to look at the original image that is featured in his article linked above and visualize the details. The subtle tonal changes in the shadow areas alone was beautiful and compelling; couple that with the highlight detail and the overall tonality of the image and the result is a print that belongs in a museum.
I encourage all of you to read some of his articles; not all are related to photography; but that is a great part of his personality and grace. I found them to be a small but useful window into his world and having met him I understand better the subtle nudge
Thank you Mike for arranging the meeting with Ctein; and thank you Ctein for being patient and kind with me as I desperately fought the urge to ask for an autograph....
Yep, it was that fun...
Respectfully
Greg