I have been drawn to documentary and journalistic photography since I was a kid. My very very first camera was a crappy copy of a Leica rangefinder. My second was a Nikon F2. I am not talking about the run of the mill journalistic photography that graces the pages of your local news paper. I am talking about documentary and journalistic photography that transcends the snapshot and ventures into art. In my humble opinion this is one of the purest forms of photographic art. Timing, contrast, light, reality, everything that a photograph is that a painting is not.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to spend some time having a conversation with Israeli art photographer Victor Ben Tzvi. He has a couple of extremely interesting and beautiful projects published online that you can see on his web site. The web site is just the beginning. Victor is all about the print. He shoots traditional black and white film. Develops it himself and then prints it on fiber based black and white paper for exhibition as well as smaller portfolio prints. The current projects that he has been working on have been shown worldwide and have received so much attention that he is photographing full time now on his projects and has a new project planned starting soon.
Victor has very effectively chosen a simple consistent approach for his projects so far sticking to one camera, one lens, and only a couple of films for a consistent and cohesive look to bind the images in each project together not only from a subject matter point of view. but also from a visual and more subtle almost subconscious way as well. When we discussed his approach and his intent he said that his goal was to make images that were real. Real in the sense that the people, places, settings and scenes were “real” but they rose above just that person, or that scene and represented more of an archetype. Sort of art without the artifice. In his words Victor says “I’m looking for the lines between authentic/real almost documentary, into the idealistic, narratives, almost allegoric... that is really the unique place for pure photographic expression, the realism of capture (and the motives that we want in terms of artistic merit.”
Of course as photographers we discussed equipment and materials that he had selected for his projects. For a camera he choose a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex. because in his words it was his favorite camera. For materials he consistently uses Fuji Neopan 400, Agfa APX100 but he also likes Fuji Acros 100 and Efke 50 as well. For film development Victor uses Rodinal and D76. He choose these materials and this camera because they are simple, produce beautiful results, and they let him concentrate on the important part of photography - his subjects.
Victor is passionate about the final product - his prints. The prints are produced by hand on Foma Variant 111 paper. He feels that black and white is a medium in and unto itself. A medium that is best represented by traditional films, processes, and papers. The results speak for themselves. I think that he has perfectly achieved his goals for his projects so far and cannot wait to see his next project. Check them out for yourself at his site - http://web.mac.com/victorbt. Better yet if possible go see the exhibitions. He also has a book in the works that he will be concentrating on as soon as the projects are finished this year.
Victor’s work has received numerous international awards as well as being exhibited and published such as prix de la photographie paris, burn magazine, burn.gallery. and show NYC His work is supported and sponsored by the Lottery Council for the Arts and Culture, and the JewishNationalFund.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to spend some time having a conversation with Israeli art photographer Victor Ben Tzvi. He has a couple of extremely interesting and beautiful projects published online that you can see on his web site. The web site is just the beginning. Victor is all about the print. He shoots traditional black and white film. Develops it himself and then prints it on fiber based black and white paper for exhibition as well as smaller portfolio prints. The current projects that he has been working on have been shown worldwide and have received so much attention that he is photographing full time now on his projects and has a new project planned starting soon.
Victor has very effectively chosen a simple consistent approach for his projects so far sticking to one camera, one lens, and only a couple of films for a consistent and cohesive look to bind the images in each project together not only from a subject matter point of view. but also from a visual and more subtle almost subconscious way as well. When we discussed his approach and his intent he said that his goal was to make images that were real. Real in the sense that the people, places, settings and scenes were “real” but they rose above just that person, or that scene and represented more of an archetype. Sort of art without the artifice. In his words Victor says “I’m looking for the lines between authentic/real almost documentary, into the idealistic, narratives, almost allegoric... that is really the unique place for pure photographic expression, the realism of capture (and the motives that we want in terms of artistic merit.”
Of course as photographers we discussed equipment and materials that he had selected for his projects. For a camera he choose a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex. because in his words it was his favorite camera. For materials he consistently uses Fuji Neopan 400, Agfa APX100 but he also likes Fuji Acros 100 and Efke 50 as well. For film development Victor uses Rodinal and D76. He choose these materials and this camera because they are simple, produce beautiful results, and they let him concentrate on the important part of photography - his subjects.
Victor is passionate about the final product - his prints. The prints are produced by hand on Foma Variant 111 paper. He feels that black and white is a medium in and unto itself. A medium that is best represented by traditional films, processes, and papers. The results speak for themselves. I think that he has perfectly achieved his goals for his projects so far and cannot wait to see his next project. Check them out for yourself at his site - http://web.mac.com/victorbt. Better yet if possible go see the exhibitions. He also has a book in the works that he will be concentrating on as soon as the projects are finished this year.
Victor’s work has received numerous international awards as well as being exhibited and published such as prix de la photographie paris, burn magazine, burn.gallery. and show NYC His work is supported and sponsored by the Lottery Council for the Arts and Culture, and the JewishNationalFund.
Thank you for sharing his amazing work! I really enjoyed looking through his website. I feel so inspired!
ReplyDeleteBridget,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed it. I found out about Victor because we both enjoy darkroom printing and we were chatting about a new paper that was released Adox MCC 110
RB
Great work Ben Tzvi... your website is full of interesting and captive images.. keep it up..
ReplyDelete