I met a photographer today

Andysnap

Andysnap

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Andy Grant
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A professional called Ron Smid, a really nice, articulate and passionate fella who shoots almost entirely on a Pentax 6 x 7 or on 5 x4. We had a really good chat and I was very impressed by his work and his gallery is very posh......cheap,no.... About £5k per print minimum. He prints everything on cibachrome and it really looks good. Just thought you may be interested ;)

Andy
 
Your story is missing a very important piece to make it even remotely interesting..... WHERE! :)
 
Lovely photos, and it's nice to know they're taken on film, but 5k? Really? I'm not sure I see anything to distinguish them from those you see on 500px all the time?
 
Southdowns said:
Lovely photos, and it's nice to know they're taken on film, but 5k? Really? I'm not sure I see anything to distinguish them from those you see on 500px all the time?
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(Typed about 90 mins ago before the last two posts !)

Apart from the fact that they are presented ready for hanging, in a gallery, in a relatively expensive resort location - bang in the middle of the area in which they were taken.

You'd probably need to actually look at them to appreciate the quality that cibachrome prints showcase, and the actual prints rather than a low res image on a website, you might also need to factor in that they are limited to 25 - but the reality is that he has made the investment to position and sell them - and if people pay £5k to hang those on their wall it doesn't mean that they are better than some of the alternative images on image sharing websites just in the right place.

Nothing to say that some of the images on 500px couldn't sell for that given the right placement.
 
meonshore said:
Nothing to say that some of the images on 500px couldn't sell for that given the right placement.
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Can't see it really, but you have to be polite I suppose.


To address the thread generally, Cibachromes are handmade by wet print masters, true artists who have spent years developing their skills, they are all unique, you can't just set the printer to spit out a hundred copies.
They are original artworks like paintings or any wet print for that matter.
Take marketing, galleries the infamy of the artist out of the equation, what would you rather have on your wall, a one off Cibachrome or a digital inkjet from 500px?
 
They are all printed by the guy who printed Ansell Adams colour prints (damn, I've forgotten his name) and in the flesh and at the large sizes displayed in the gallery they are stunning. He spends a lot of time and energy to get each shot and sometimes spends weeks at a location to get the image he has in mind.
As I. Says genuine and passionate guy and a nice fella to boot. I made sure he knew that I wasn't in the market at the start but he still spent 20 minutes chatting to me.
 
Truly beautiful.

Anyone tried cibachrome printing?
 
Steve said:
Truly beautiful.

Anyone tried cibachrome printing?
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Well I did about 20 years ago and it's not difficult, just more expensive. In fact I thought it was all discontinued and threw the remaining sheets away after giving up working in the darkroom....Mind you the enlarger, timer etc is still set up in a place I built in the garage, but keep the lenses indoors.
 
That's rather awesome stuff! The actual photos are refreshingly good as well. The subtleties in the light are wonderful, especially with the small island of trees among the rushing river - brilliant work.

Would love to give the process a go as well. Certainly an inspiration to buy and shoot more slide!
 
Sad that its likely he's only able to do it based on stockpiled paper and chemicals, Ilford discontinued ilfochorme/cibachrome completely about a year ago.
 
They are stunning!

I was disappointed when I found out you could no longer wet print slide film, as it is something I would love to have tried!
 
He has a thousand sheets of cibachrome left after that he's struggling, probably why he charges so much.
 
Such a shame that the technique will be consigned to the dustbin of history.
 
I'll be in Vancouver in a few days. Will see if I can make time for a side trip to Whistler - ta for the heads-up.
 
horrocks said:
Way, way too much colour for me. Reminded me of why I see B&W as the purest photographic medium!

Certainly some good marketing there, and good luck to him.
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When we spoke I mentioned that I was drawn to b and white more than colour and he showed me some of his mono stuff which was also exceptional. He shoots a lot of colour because it sells but he does like mono as well.
Jox, he didn't mention knowing you either but I'm sure he would think you were great if he had.:D
 
It's odd, isn't it; we wouldn't be at all surprised to come across an art gallery selling paintings [edited] for $5K or much, much more, but when it's a photographer we don't have quite the same reaction. Perhaps because it's "easy" to make a photo (although I guess we all know how hard it is to make a good one). However, I've read enough blogs about the business of making photographs as art to realise that it's an order of magnitude above what I could ever aspire to. Add the art-level print-making, Cibachrome etc and the bar's raised even higher.

I'm not quite sure what I'm saying here, other than: I was surprised at the prices. but a little thought convinces me I shouldn't have been!
 
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ChrisR said:
I'm not quite sure what I'm saying here, other than: I was surprised at the prices. but a little thought convinces me I shouldn't have been!
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Wise words indeed and as Andy has swanned off to Canada you have now assumed the mantle of F&C sage in residence :thumbs:
 
:razz:
 
If by 'swanning off' you mean leaving in a graceful and unflappable way then yes that's what I did......
 
Photographs have always been appreciated with higher prices in North America.
people value them as Art.
 
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