I am trying to get rid of old prints to eliminate images that don’t mean much. I’ve gone through Van Dyke prints, cyanotypes, platinotypes and the silver gelatin prints (both on fiber base and RC paper). I’ve disposed of the silver gelatin prints, but the alt process prints I’ve removed from the mat board and keeping them in some of the remaining archival storage boxes. So far, I’ve emptied five 11x14 and six 16x20 storage boxes.
I keep finding orphan prints. I don’t know why I have so many prints that do not belong to any project. They are the orphan prints that have lived here for decades. I think I have a stack of orphan digital prints several inches thick that belong to neither project nor exhibition. They are all fine photographs. I can’t imagine why I made so many photographs that have no “home” (that would be part of a project or exhibit). Out they went with their analog brethren. If I do need to make a reprint (in the near future, at least) I have the printer and paper to make another.
*The Reverend Joe Dan Donny is one of my alter egos, the itinerant, tent show preacher and founder of the Church of the Holy Polaroids. The founding emanates from the days of developing Polaroid film on cold mornings by sandwiching the film pack between your warm hands to hasten the development of the image. It looked like prayer, and prayer was often needed to assist with the success of the photograph.
Boy, did I goof up on this post. There are those photographers who always try to embellish their deeds in order to make them sound much more impressive than they really are. That's OK with me, self promotion is one of those necessary evils of being an artist. If you don't tell others about what you do, then how will they find out? Upon reflection, I have decided to embellish and embiggen my description of the disposal of my old photographic prints. Ahem. (Listen to this.) My vintage prints are now part of the permanent collection of the Wake County Landfill.
This sounds so much better than saying I threw out a whole bunch of old prints.