What is the name of the Gallery in Monterey/Carmel area that has the Galen Rowell scanned/laser printed pictures that I read about on the web?

-- George Nedleman (gnln@thegrid.net), January 17, 2000

Answers

I apologize for "piggy-backing" onto your question: Does anyone know the name of the gallery in Carmel that exhibits the Chris Burkett prints (made with his 8x10 view camera)?

-- Andreas Carl (andreas@physio.unr.edu), January 17, 2000.

Christopher Burkett

Photography West Gallery Dolores at Ocean Avenue, P.O.Box 5306 , Carmel, CA 93921 831-625-1587 email: photowest@earthlink.net

-- Daniel Taylor (aviator@agalis.net), January 17, 2000.

Galen Rowell's Gallery is:

Mountian Light 1466 66th Street Emeryville, CA 94608 510-601-9000

Geln Rowell's web page is:

http://www.mountainlight.com

The gallery in Carmel that shows Christopher Burkett's work is:

Photography West Gallery Dolores at Ocean Avenue P.O.Box 5306 Carmel, CA 93921 831-625-1587 email: photowest@earthlink.net

Chritopher Burkett's web page is:

http://www.christopherburkett.com

I've been to both galleries. I would definately recommend seeing the Christopher Burkett photos in person. They're incredible. No book or magazine reproduction can do them justice. He is one of the best printers ever. (Even the Ansel Adams prints in the same gallery are overshadowed by Burkett's.)

As for Rowell's gallery, I wasn't that impressed, even though I've been a Rowell fan for a while. Seeing his prints after seeing the Burkett prints a few days before was a big let down. 35mm versus 8x10? No contest. Rowell's images are printed with several different techniques, including laser printing as noted above, but none of them look anywhere near as good as Burkett's work.

Just my 2 cents worth.

-- Joel Collins (jwc3@mindspring.com), January 17, 2000.

Yeah, but when was the last time Burkette carried a camera up El Capitan, or hiked to 24,000 feet above sea level to take sunrise photos of Mount Everest?

I'm not trying to start a war on the merits of Burkette vs. Rowell. I respect both photographers. Different tools for different jobs.

And yes, Burkette's prints are beautiful.

-- Darron Spohn (dspohn@photobitstream.com), January 17, 2000.

Sorry George to embezzle your initial question. I recently got a copy of "Robert Frost Seasons", photographs by C. Burkett. If the photos are superb, some look pretty unrealistic to me in terms of colors and tones. They have a soft gradation and oversaturated colors. I am not saying I don't like this kind of artistic touch: in the contrary. But I just wonder if this is the way Christopher works (and if this is done without the means of electronic publishing, but in the darkroom with masking and other techniques, I bow down before such a talent) or is it the way the book was treated by the photolitho who has put it to press? I suppose I will get my answer when I receive his latest book "Intimations of Paradise" (Amazon seems unable to get hold of some copies at the moment). Christopher has realized the photolitho himself and therefore, the images should look pretty close from his original prints. Any comment from those who have seen his prints?

-- Paul Schilliger (pschilliger@vtx.ch), January 17, 2000.

Paul,

Christopher is my neighbor, here in a small mountain community of population 1000 in northwest Oregon. Christopher prints everything via Ilfochrome, from Velvia or Fuji 100. he is an expert on contrast masking, and is a total perfectionist. he uses a Calumet C-1 and Hasselblad, with the finest lenses available. his new book is quite beautiful, and Christopher and Ruth are very pleased. in talks with them, they did express some dissatisfaction with the way some publishers handled and marketed their previous books .. which I assumed was referring to the 'Robert Frost' photo essay. personally, I find the over-saturation to be over the top, but Christopher hones in on the lighting and wants to emphasize the colour that he feels his God imparts upon the world. I did not buy the book, though it is on extreme discount from Barnes and Noble presently. compared to the actual prints, the books are disappointing, but works of art in themselves. the finest of paper and materials, I have really enjoyed my autographed copy of 'Itimations of Paradise'. enjoy.

-- Daniel Taylor (aviator@agalis.net), January 17, 2000.

I recently visited three photo galleries in Carmel: Photography West, Silver Light, and the Weston Gallery. All three were very fine, with beautiful works by many photographers. I particularly enjoyed the Burkett prints at Photography West, and the David/Marc Muench and John Wawrzonek prints at Silver Light. The latter are (I believe) all digital prints from a Lightjet 5000. All were spectacular.

Christopher Burkett's prints at Photography West were really amazing, though I disagree with the above poster who is disappointed by the reproductions in book. I have Intimations of Paradise, and it has the best reproductions of color prints I have ever seen. Even when compared to the 8x10 prints at the gallery, the book was very reasonable. Sure, it doesn't have the super-gloss finish and on very close inspection has some halftoning, it is really spectacular. I understand that Mr. Burkett spent several years making sure everything was done to his satisfaction, and he certainly is a perfectionist.

Carmel's a neat place to go to see photographs. Those three galleries are really humbling.

-- Jeremy Tavan (jeremy@tavan.com), January 17, 2000.

'Intimations of Nature' is beautiful and the reproductions are excellent. to better word my previous posting, I should say that the book is disappointing, much like comparing a book on Michaelangelo's art with standing inside the Sistene chapel.

-- Daniel Taylor (aviator@agalis.net), January 18, 2000.

Thanks for these first hand details! I wish I was in the vicinity to enjoy the sight and the athmosphere of Carmel and some other places I would like to visit. I definitly have to schedule a new trip to the US in the near future. Coming back to Christopher Burkett, I believe he has developped an ability to master the whole process from taking to printing and publishing which is rare among photographers. He certainly has upper motivation to carry this painstaking process the way he does. Daniel, what's the name of the town you live in?

-- Paul Schilliger (pschilliger@vtx.ch), January 18, 2000.