P3D Re: Prints vs Slides Again!!

[bill3dbw3d@xxxxxxxx (Bill C Walton)]

My posting on this subject sure brought a lot of responses, and I think
that is healthy. But George Themelis seemed to think it  was an "attack"
(I guess) on Kodachrome as he felt forced to defend Kodachrome. I don't
believe that my writing "It is hard, I THINK, to compare the archival
qualities of stereo prints and stereo slides, etc"
could hardly be considered an attack.   Time will tell if the qualities
of either medium hold up.

A slight correction - The Kodachrome of my first solo flight was Sep
1956, so that slide is 41 years old.  And yes it has been projected many
times over the years and it will continue to be projected as long as
there is a useable image there and I want to show it to someone. 

Question- Wasn't projection the original idea behind transparency film? 
To use slides in hand viewers instead of projecting them is sort of short
changing that medium, I believe.  I would think that George Themelis has
probably projected some of his Kodachromes, giving little thought to the
effect on their archival qualities.  And I support that idea 100%.

No where did I mention in my posting that all Kodachromes are fading
badly.  I did use two examples that have faded and the reason could be a
lot of projection or improperly stored.  I have another example and I
think they may be a result of improper processing.  The first Kodachromes
I made in Vietnam, in 1962, were processed somewhere in South East Asia
or Japan and they are not doing well at all as far as fading is
concerned.  But then every box of color slide film (that I have seen) has
a disclaimer on it concerning fading so it is really a "non-issue"

George wrote "I do not know many workers that shoot B& W prints"  I would
think he has heard the names Stan White, Bill Patterson, Brandt Rowles,
Dick Twichell, Dale Walsh, Phyllis Maslin to name a few.  Others that he
may  not be quite so familiar with,. but which are well known in the SSA
are David Lee, Michael Pierazzi, Michael Isenberg, George Freeman and
Jonne Goeller.  Some of the above listed folks are members of the League
of Americans Stereographing for Tomorrow (LAST) and all of them are very
active B&W printmakers.  We have two Black & White folios in the SSA with
a waiting list of folks who want to participate.  Also, the Best of Show
and the 2d Place in the recent SSA Intl Stereo Card Exhibition were both
B&W images. 

I think it might be beneficial to George if he would try some of the
other formats in the SSA in order to meet some other members of the
organization..  We have prints, 2x2x2, 21/4 x2 1/4 x 2   and the digital
folio.  I tried the Alpha Transparency and the 2x2x2 for about three
years.  Met some nice folks and saw some wonderful images, but decided
there is "more bang for the buck" (and the time) for me in prints.  So
now I have started the North America-Germany Stereo Card Circuit.  It is
on it's 2d exchange and seems to be healthy.

George also wrote  " -------it does not make sense to suggest shooting
everyday pictures in B&W, unless some kind of "special effect " is
desired"    I wonder about the logic behind this statement.  If I said "
------it does not make sense to shoot everyday pictures in color , unless
some kind of "special effect" is desired"  then I would be wong as I am
getting into someone elses area of interest.  I suppose that those who
work in color do it for the same reason that those of us who work in B&W
do.  THAT IS WHAT THEY LIKE!!!  Or is there another reason?  I am also
glad that most of the judges of the PSA International Exhibitions don't
agree with George or those of us who work in B&W would not get many
acceptances of our stereo slides or stereo cards in these exhibitions. 
Of course I have been doing B&W prints for only 25 years so I still have
a lot to learn..

I really believe that we should all continue to shoot  as much stereo as
we can, educate as many non-stereo photographers as we can  and enjoy
ourselves in whatever medium that we choose.. 

Again, this is considerably more that my two cents worth

BILL C WALTON
bill3dbw3d@xxxxxxxx  .


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