In-depth, for fine arts photographers
4 stars
After seeing it recommended on the /r/darkroom subreddit basically every day I wanted to give this a read for a long while and had the tab open to buy it for over a year, when my partner gifted me this for my birthday.
Having finished my first reading of it, I can definitely understand why it is one of the recommended text books for people that want to go into silver gelatine printing for their black & white photography: The book is filled to the brim with highly detailed strategies & the science (physics & chemistry) behind capturing images, developing negatives & exposing prints. This level of detail - while much appreciated - does not work super well as a text book that can be read front to back though, rather it works to be a reference work to be consulted for specific use-cases - many of which only fine-arts …
After seeing it recommended on the /r/darkroom subreddit basically every day I wanted to give this a read for a long while and had the tab open to buy it for over a year, when my partner gifted me this for my birthday.
Having finished my first reading of it, I can definitely understand why it is one of the recommended text books for people that want to go into silver gelatine printing for their black & white photography: The book is filled to the brim with highly detailed strategies & the science (physics & chemistry) behind capturing images, developing negatives & exposing prints. This level of detail - while much appreciated - does not work super well as a text book that can be read front to back though, rather it works to be a reference work to be consulted for specific use-cases - many of which only fine-arts photographers that work with at least medium if not large format materials will appreciate.
Overall, glad to have it as a reference work on the shelve!
