PhotoForum 60/61: Ink & Silver.

John B. Turner (editor).

Kapil Arn, Wayne Barrar, Jill Carlyle, Jennifer Gillam, John Hawkhead, Dean Nixon, Stuart Sontier and Clive Stone.

Published by PhotoForum, 1995

ISBN 095978182X

400 x 300m, 40 pages, softcover

Gold Medal winner in 1996 Pride in Print Awards for best 2-3 colour offset production. Four photographs each by Kapil Arn, Wayne Barrar, Jill Carlyle, Jennifer Gillam, John Hawkhead, Dean Nixon, Stuart Sontier and Clive Stone. Printed in duotone and tritone offset by Graeme Chicken and Martin Schänzel.

News article from PhotoForum Newsletter, 1996:
Gold printing award for Ink & Silver

Ink & Silver the limited edition PhotoForum book produced by participants at the `Offset Printing for Photographers' workshop run by the University of Auckland, won the gold medal in the `Two or Three Colour Printing' category of the recent New Zealand Pride in Print awards. Ink & Silver was partly printed by Graeme Chicken on Elam's single colour Heidelberg press at the Elam Fine Arts Printing Research Unit, which instigated the workshop. The remaining sections were printed by Martin Schänzel, on a six-colour Heidelberg press at Colorite in Auckland. Although the School still owns its press, which is now housed in the Printing Department of the Auckland Institute of Technology and used by them, this recognition comes too late for the Elam Fine Arts Printing Research Unit itself, which was disestablished by the University in 1995. Winning the award from a field of 74 entrants from throughout New Zealand, ahead of highly commended publications for wealthy clients such as Carter Holt Harvey, and the Museum of New Zealand, is satisfying to John Turner, a Senior Lecturer in Photography, and also Director of PhotoForum. He founded the Unit in 1985 with printer Robin Lush. "The Unit proved it could do exceptional work," says Turner, "It was independent enough to be innovative and take a few risks. The Elam Calendars we produced were exemplary, and the Cinderella stamp sets along with numerous student and staff publications that we printed, simply wouldn't have been done without the Research Unit. It was our key to open up exciting opportunities for printing and publishing for artists. Our success in the Pride in Print awards demonstrates what can be done in the right creative environment, through collaboration between artists and the printing industry. " Organised as a collaborative venture between the Elam Fine Arts Printing Research Unit and the Centre for Continuing Education at The University of Auckland, with PhotoForum, the Offset Printing for Photographers workshop was taught by visiting U.S. photographer Morrie Camhi and John B. Turner, in January 1995.
The resulting book features the work of photographers Kapil Arn, Jennifer Gillam, Dean Nixon, Stuart Sontier, and Clive Stone from Auckland, Wanganui photographer Wayne Barrar, Jill Carlyle of Tokomaru Bay, and John Hawkhead of Dunedin. The reason for this workshop and publication, Turner points out, was due to the frustration felt by New Zealand photographers at the relatively low quality of printing done by local printers to date. "The need for a book of this kind was to prove that our printers could rise to the occasion and make exemplary reproductions of `black & white' photographs, such as those enjoyed by the visiting American photographer, Morrie Camhi, whose work had been reproduced by top American offset printers in California and New York."

Turner insists that the printer must be responsive to the different expressive needs of photographers in order to reproduce their work properly. The printers of Ink & Silver, Graeme Chicken and Martin Schänzel, agree. Chicken, who printed on Elam's single colour press said, "This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to try different techniques that I don't have time to explore with commercial work."
And for Martin Schänzel, who printed for Colorite, and recently moved to Dunedin, said that the workshop helped him refine his technique. "It was an incredible learning experience having the photographers with me on the machine. They were quite assertive as to what they wanted and pushed my skills as a printer."

A lavish book of photographs in its own right, Ink & Silver, as well as providing a quality showcase for the eight photographers and two printers, is intended to help other photographers. "The idea," says Turner, who both edited and designed the book, "is that Ink & Silver can be used by photographers to show their printers the colour and tonal variations they would like for their own work, simply by pointing to a specific reproduction with the qualities they are after."

The publication of Ink & Silver was generously supported by Spicer Cowan Paper, Colorite, MH Imaging, Crystal Colour Graphics, Nova Inks & Chemicals, and the book's printers. Distributed to key curators and institutions in the U.S. by Morrie Camhi, who wrote an extensive account of the Offset Printing for Photographers workshop for LensWork Quarterly (No. 10, [Northern Hemisphere] Summer 1995. Called `Hedonism in Far Off Places', Morrie's article was billed as `A recent workshop in New Zealand provides a hedonistic experience - often considered "excess living" - with participants savouring the collective "well done" as they expand beyond traditional photographic boundaries to the world of ink and paper.' Ink & Silver has received wide recognition from both photographers and the printing industry. And, best of all, good New Zealand photographs have gone out into the world in the best possible manner. Less than 100 copies of this numbered limited edition book are still available for sale to the public at $120 each, direct from PhotoForum Inc., P.O. Box 5657, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1. The price to PhotoForum members is still $80.

- Kim Reed

LensWork Quarterly `is devoted to ideas rather than images, imagination rather than imitation, and an understanding of photography beyond craft.' The intention of the magazine is to create an exchange, a dialogue.
They welcome submissions from readers. Write to LensWork Quarterly, P.O. Box 22007, Portland, Oregon 97269, U.S.A. Overseas subscription is $US 50.