I always have some abstraction in my work so the viewer must do at least a little work to fill in the blanks, but beyond this, I often like the abstractions to trigger thoughts that are totally unrelated to the subject matter-like feelings we’ve had from some past experience. PR: Some of my scenes conjure up totally unrelated associations. PR: Red River Ultra Pro Satin paper allows me to make the best, high-dynamic range B&W prints more simply than other approaches I’ve used. The quality and consistency of the paper has been outstanding. I spray my prints with Lascaux Fixativ acrylic protective spray, dry mount them, put a black wood frame around them, and they are ready to sell. PR: Once you see what carbon pigment inks can produce, everything else looks second-best.ĪB: What paper do you use for your carbon prints? How does their print quality compare to yours? The biggest problem is finding refillable cartridges.ĪB: Today’s high-end printers use several shades of black ink. And older, smaller format printers work just as well. These old workhorses have many years of life in them when it comes to black-and-white printing. In fact, I now use an Epson 78 for my display prints and they produce outstanding results. So I became an inkset designer-not to make money-but to try to achieve a black and white digital carbon-pigment print that would be sufficiently archival to be collectible.ĪB: Does this process require special printers? PR: I found that a carbon-based ink that used color pigments rather than color dyes to achieve a neutral black tone would do the trick. Fade testing and careful selection of materials was critical. Digital prints were, in my view, simply better than silver prints but there was a widespread distrust of digital prints due to the early use of dyes that faded quickly. PR: Having transitioned into my photo life, I had the time and interest to promote this form of printing. So I started to experiment with ways to control the tone of inkjet prints.ĪB: It also sounds like a time-consuming challenge. However, achieving neutral black and white tones with a color inkset on an inkjet printer with no midtone gray inks was simply impossible. PR: In the late 1990s it became very clear to me that digital was going to take over much of photography. And, of course as I got deeper into black-and-white and fine art silver printing, I became very familiar with Ansel Adams’ work.ĪB: You are a pioneer in the field of black-and-white digital printing. His use of light and his skill at guiding the eye has always struck me as simply the best. I like a lot of information to be in the shot so there is a lot for the viewer’s brain to study and play with.ĪB: Who most shaped your photographic vision? I sometimes call this the “micro pattern.” Here, using relative lightness and lots of other tools, I try to keep the eye in the picture and flowing from one interesting part to another. PR: Once drawn to the photo, the image must keep the viewer’s interest as long as possible. We don’t notice things we don’t ‘attend’ to. With no color to do the job, the image should have what I call a “macro pattern” that catches the viewer’s attention. With color, a bright red or other color might do it. How do you go about making a great image? PR: I shoot with a full-frame Sony a7R which I’ve adapted to take Leica M lenses and, along with some other modifications, it can give me the quality I require for the large prints I make.ĪB: Your eye for design is phenomenal. PR: I had stopped using 35mm, bought a Rollei SL66 outfit and started to acquire the best medium format negatives I could, mostly saving them for printing until after I was able to transition into my photo “second life,” which happened in 1996. I suppose the strongest feedback was at a show in downtown Los Angeles where all my black-and-white prints were stolen but none of my color images.ĪB: What cameras were you shooting with at that time? It convinced me that black-and-white fine art landscape display prints would be my main target, although people also responded well to the color work I was doing. My first big break was a one-man show at the Solvang Gallery in 1981 that turned into a traveling show around Southern California. PR: I transitioned into it during the last 15 years of my legal career. It offered excellent benefits as well as an opportunity to retire early.ĪB: When did you move into full-time photography? I attended UCLA Law School and then went to work as an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission. Paul Roark: I decided to split my working life into two segments-one “practical” (money-making) and one where I could pursue photography as an art and not have to worry about starving.
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