ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is about photography.  It celebrates the history of the photographic image, paying homage to the past masters of the medium.  The still-lives of Blossfeldt and Weston, the Modernist urban landscapes of Stieglitz and the early Pictorialists are all present in my work.

It is all about the photographic print.  Using the best modern papers and unique toning techniques, I strive to achieve the depth and luster of a fine vintage print. In an age when the medium is becoming more and more high-tech, I borrow from the past and use modern materials to achieve a look that is both contemporary and faithful to the past.  I aspire to create something that is uniquely mine.

TECHNIQUE

All photographs were taken with either a 4 x 5 view camera or a 4 x 5 pinhole camera.  A pinhole camera is simply a box without a lens, with a piece of brass over an opening with a pinprick size hole through which the image is projected onto the film.  The “focus” is the same for all objects regardless of distance from the opening, giving the photographer great control over perspective.

Most of the photographs are shot on Polaroid Type 55 positive negative film, which yields a negative that is then enlarged.

Some of negatives have been solarized. This a technique in which the film is exposed to light before it is fully developed, creating a reversal of tone in some areas and a fine “etched” line around the subjects.

All prints are Toned Geltatin Silver Prints.

Tom Baril
NYC, September 1996