sumer2016
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
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| Member | Jul 1, 2015 (11 years) |
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Bio
All work in this gallery is Copyright ©2014 Lionel F. Stevenson, and may not be used for any purpose whatsoever without written permission.
For me, the print is the photograph. It doesn't pretend to be the subject it depicts, but is a surreal abstract artistic creation.
From the first, 60-some years ago, my direction was to admit the photograph; to not pretend it is something other than what it is.
Let it be a photograph, with the inherent photographic qualities, and let it have the qualities of good art- form, line, mass, texture.
I work mostly in black and white; using colour only when the subject demanded it.
The photograph doesn't need to be amplified, dramatized or made spectacular. Those are fads, and will fade, soon to be replaced by other fads. The strength of photographs is in their accurate representation of reality and the vision of the photographer combined with its surreal abstraction of that reality. The farther the photograph strays from accurate representation, the weaker its statement, as its strength is in the sizzle between the real and the surreal. It's a subtle thing.
This has nothing to do with the saleability of the image.
Having been taught by a great photographer and silver print maker, Berenice Abbott, my prints are extremely beautiful objects. That's the way I make them. They will add a touch of elegance to any room.
My prints are normally 20' wide. I can recommend prints up to 40' wide. I would be careful ordering anything larger than that, except for the erratics, which will go up to 60' very nicely, and were designed for larger sizes.
In 1947, I bought my first camera.
In 1957, I developed my first film and made my first print. A new world of photography opened for me.
In 1960 I began working at photography full time.
In 1967, I was named Canadian Professional Photographer of the Year
In 1968 I went to work with Berenice Abbott in Maine, USA, arguably the finest silver print maker of the twentieth century. I began to learn to print all over again. For me it was a quantum leap in art. I made prints for two shows, for the Museum of Modern Art in New York and for the Smithsonian in Washington.
I’ve been helped by many people in my career and growth as a photographer, and I send my thanks to them all wherever they may be.
In 1972, I returned to PEI, and since then, my photography has paid the bills.
In 2003, I switched to digital photography, and sold my film equipment, cameras, darkroom and all.
Many of the images here were made originally on film, digitized and are now printed on my excellent inkjet printer. The images are more to my liking, and are even more permanent than silver prints, and the colour prints are especially more permanent than chromogenic colour prints.