At the last minute, I changed the December photograph due to the passing of Michael A. Smith.  Michael passed away Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.  Michael was an internationally known Ultra Large Format photographer, along with his wife Paula Chamlee he changed the course of large film, wet processed photographs in a way only the greats who came before him could lay claim too.

     I first met Michael and Paula in 2003 when they graciously agreed to travel to Connecticut to put on a free to all presentation of their work to the New England Large Format Photography Collective and invited guests.   They discussed the changing times of the Large Format genre of photography and traditionally hand processed Silver prints.   Michael and Paula singlehandedly kept alive the sole remaining Silver Chloride paper known as Azo for years by agreeing to acquire all that Kodak would continue to manufacture.   When Kodak finally pulled the plug on the production of Azo rather than succumb to the industry giant Michael and Paula sought out a smaller paper company in Europe to produce an “own version” of Silver Chloride paper known as Lodima under the scrutiny of Michael’s high standards.   Their 5+ year project is now in full production and enjoying a renaissance of sorts keeping the Silver Chloride photograph alive and well.   Their combined efforts for the Large Format community will likely never be equaled when taken in the context of what they have managed to keep alive.

    I included this image for a specific reason, I visited Michael and Paula in 2005, only a year or so after I perfected the Minimal Agitation technique.   I brought this photograph and negative of the Virgin River in Zion National Park to show the dramatic results of a Semi-Stand form of film development.   Michael was shocked to see the difference between identically exposed 7×17″ negatives, one processed via the Semi-Stand technique and the other traditionally processed with continuous agitation in a tray of developer.   While he was surprised to see the difference he would later tell me he thought the SS processed negative looked “fractured” due to the Adjacency Effects commonly associated with that film processing technique and he did not care for the look.  Over the years I have learned to design the Minimal Agitation processing results to my liking, and in fact is the only way I have processed film since late 2003.   Michael once told me, “you make exciting photographs” and I am thankful for the times we’ve talked about the art of photography.

    Because there are so many film photographers receiving these monthly Blog posts I have included a link to a short write up about Michael A. Smith which contains a link to donate to Arts of Our Times which he and Paula co-founded in 2003.   Michael A. Smith 1942 – 2018      As noted in the previous link there will be a public celebration of Michael’s life at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown following the Holidays, the date is yet to be determined.   I’ll look forward to seeing many friends at that celebration of Michael A. Smith.    

RIP…MAS