It's time to return to the late nineteen sixties and black and white film. This was the year that I started my long documentary of the Appalachians and the Mountain People. In fact, this is the very spot where it began--on the front porch of a deserted mountain cabin somewhere along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.
I don't recall moving one single piece of this still life. Everything was perfect; at least in my opinion, and I toned the original silver print with an old proven bleach/redevelop process.
There was quite a fuss among fine art photographers in those early days about whether to number or not number your originals. I stuck firmly to the traditions of printmaking and started to number my editions from day one, and I made them short. No open-ended editions by this artist.
I also signed and dated my originals on the print; not the mat. I still see a few photographers who sign on the mat, for whatever reason. Don't people realize that if the mat is damaged by humidity or some unexpected accident, you cannot go back and correct it? That is, assuming that you or a gallery sold your original to someone you don't know.
And remember, the word PRINT refers to an original. Many painters still refer to reproductions as "Prints" and this is misleading and downright dishonest. What really sticks in my craw is when gallery owners refer to reproductions as prints. I see it right here in River City. Big as bush! I can remember a buyer suing a painter back east for misrepresenting her work. The purchaser won.
For additional information about prints and reproductions, click on: http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa082.shtml
If you would like to view a larger image of this image, left click on the image above.
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