Michael Marks had two of his photographs selected to appear in the 27th Annual Phillips Mill Photographic Exhibition in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. One his photographs won the prestigious Spencer Saunders Award.  The exhibit was juried by Emmit Gowan.

Because of Covid-19, the exhibition is being held online and can be viewed at:

https://www.phillipsmillphoto.com/pmpe2020-exhibition

Monalog™ has been in contact with Paula Chamlee and she informed us that she still has inventory of the Lodima silver chloride contact printing paper that she and Michael Smith had manufactured to replace Kodak’s Azo. She has been selling it rather regularly and is getting low on the grade 2, but has a large amount of the grade 4 still in stock. Information on availability and writings about the paper are on their web site, www.lodima.org.

Paula is in regular contact with the manufacturer in Germany and said they hope to give her a production forecast on the new grade 3 sometime this spring. With the worldwide disruptions from coronavirus, definite information is impossible just now.

Paula also continues to teach workshops at their studio in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, either in small groups or privately. If you are interested, contact her at paula@michaelandpaula.com.

On March 11, 2020, Ilford Photo posted the results of their “Global Analogue Film Photography Community Survey”.  5,439 photographers from 87 countries responded.

Ilford Photo concluded, in part, that  “While new generations of film shooters may not yet have embraced the darkroom as they have film shooting or home processing, we firmly believe that printing is an integral part of photography and is as fun and rewarding an experience as all that comes before it. The data shows the tangible aspect of darkroom printing, not least getting people away from a screen to create something meaningful with their hands, is appealing but it is clear obstacles do exist. Time, expense, space, knowledge, and equipment all play their part.”

Please visit the Ilford web site for results of the entire survey.    http://www.ilfordphoto.com

It’s true! Fuji has recently brought back Fuji Acros in the form of Acros II.  The announcement was made by Fujifilm Corporation on November 13, 2019. The film was first introduced in Japan but is now available in the US and other markets.

From Fuji’s website, https://www.fujifilmusa.com/press/news/display_news?newsID=881726

“TOKYO, November 13, 2019 – FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) announced that the new generation of NEOPAN 100 ACROS II (ACROS II) black-and-white film will be available in Japan starting November 22, 2019. After the initial launch of ACROS II in Japan, Fujifilm anticipates introduction of the black-and-white film in select overseas markets, including the U.S., by early 2020. The reformulated ACROS II film has all the most-loved features of its predecessor, including unsurpassed high-resolution, fine grain and sharpness. To meet the needs of film enthusiasts of today’s market, ACROS II will be available in 35mm and 120 size formats.

Utilizing Fujifilm’s proprietary Super Fine-Σ particle technology, ACROS II offers a high-level of granularity with pristine resolution achieved at a sensitivity of ISO 100. Fujifilm has achieved this level of image quality at high-sensitivity due to its longstanding history of film development and manufacturing, which has allowed it to precisely control the size and composition of silver halide grains contained in photographic film, contributing to the final image quality and aesthetic in prints. The sharpness achieved in ACROS II film will detail fine textures, making it an ideal selection to use in a wide-range of situations including landscape, portraits, commercial, architectural and even astronomical and night photography. Building on these characteristics, ACROS II will offer slightly higher contrast gradation in highlight areas when compared to the conventional ACROS film.

As the demand for film decreased and raw materials became difficult to procure, Fujifilm discontinued the sale of black-and-white film in 2018. Due to recent interest from millennials and GenZs, who have become the newest film enthusiasts, Fujifilm developed a plan to revive black-and-white film to meet new market demands.

As a leading company in the imaging field, Fujifilm will never stop striving to meet the diverse needs of customers in a wide range of fields, from analog to digital, and continue to provide improved products and services.”

Life Magazine and the Power of Photography, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey. Through June 21, 2020

From Princeton University Art Museum, https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/3612

“From the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, the vast majority of the photographs printed and consumed in the United States appeared on the pages of illustrated magazines. Offering an in-depth look at the photography featured in Life magazine throughout its weekly run from 1936 to 1972, this exhibition examines how the magazine’s use of images fundamentally shaped the modern idea of photography in the United States. The work of photographers such as Margaret Bourke-White, Larry Burrows, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Frank Dandridge, Gordon Parks, and W. Eugene Smith is explored in the context of the creative and editorial structures at Life. Drawing on unprecedented access to Life magazine’s picture and paper archives, as well as photographers’ archives, the exhibition presents an array of materials, including caption files, contact sheets, and shooting scripts, that shed new light on the collaborative process behind many now-iconic images and photo-essays.”

Dorothea Lange, Words & Pictures, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York. Through May 9, 2020

From MoMA, https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5079

“Toward the end of her life, Dorothea Lange (1895–1965) reflected, “All photographs—not only those that are so called ‘documentary’…can be fortified by words.” A committed social observer, Lange paid sharp attention to the human condition, conveying stories of everyday life through her photographs and the voices they drew in. Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures, the first major MoMA exhibition of Lange’s in 50 years, brings iconic works from the collection together with less seen photographs—from early street photography to projects on criminal justice reform. The work’s complex relationships to words show Lange’s interest in art’s power to deliver public awareness and to connect to intimate narratives in the world.

In her landmark 1939 photobook An American Exodus—a central focus of the show—Lange experiments with combining words and pictures to convey the human impact of Dust Bowl migration. Conceived in collaboration with her husband, agricultural economist Paul Taylor, the book weaves together field notes, folk song lyrics, newspaper excerpts, and observations from contemporary sociologists. These are accompanied by a chorus of first-person quotations from the sharecroppers, displaced families, and migrant workers at the center of her pictures. Presenting Lange’s work in its diverse contexts—photobooks, Depression-era government reports, newspapers, magazines, poems—along with the voices of contemporary artists, writers, and thinkers, the exhibition offers a more nuanced understanding of Lange’s vocation, and new means for considering words and pictures today.”