Demise of monochrome printing paper.

Hello, All!

I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at it in
the library today. According to them, despite the moans of art
professors about the loss of "art and poetry", Kodak has
announced stopping manufacture of black and white paper and Agfa
and Ilford are bankrupt. AFAIK, that only leaves Fuji among the
major manufacturers. It looks like digital photography is going
to gather more recruits!

Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7 prints of
my granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were very satisfactory.
The image file was produced by scanning a commercial black and
white print.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

"James Silverton" not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote in message
...
Hello, All!

I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at it in the
library today. According to them, despite the moans of art professors
about the loss of "art and poetry", Kodak has announced stopping
manufacture of black and white paper and Agfa and Ilford are bankrupt.
AFAIK, that only leaves Fuji among the major manufacturers. It looks like
digital photography is going to gather more recruits!

Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7 prints of my
granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were very satisfactory. The image
file was produced by scanning a commercial black and white print.


The upside is that the major vendors of inkjet printers
are finally acknowledging the BW/monochrome market.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

James Silverton wrote:
Hello, All!

I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at it in the
library today. According to them, despite the moans of art professors
about the loss of "art and poetry", Kodak has announced stopping
manufacture of black and white paper and Agfa and Ilford are bankrupt.
AFAIK, that only leaves Fuji among the major manufacturers. It looks
like digital photography is going to gather more recruits!

Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7 prints of my
granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were very satisfactory. The image
file was produced by scanning a commercial black and white print.

My understanding was that Ilford Imaging Limited the overall holding
company) was bankrupt, that the administrators had sold off Ilford
Imaging Switzerland (the digital papers etc. division) to Oji Paper of
Japan, and that the film/paper/chemicals division had been acquired
through a management buy-out who are named Harman Technology and are
trading as Ilford Photo.

So, the rumours of the demise of Ilford film and paper is a bit
premature it would seem. Not that I've bought any recently, but
Silverprint list all the Ilford stuff.

John

Good riddance.

A photographic friend of mine had to have a lung collapsed, he never smoked,
he blames it squarely on the photo chemicals he (and I) used to make B&W
prints. A week after I found out I took my chemicals to the local authority
tip and started using my digital camera properly.

As for the art and poetry of B&W prints, thats just ******** spouted by
idiots who are entirely ignorant of the ridiculous complexities needed to
make prints 'in the old fashoined way'.

Digital cameras and inkjet printers have freed photographers from all the
horrible drudgery and allowed them to concentrate on the image, its sense
and content.

Jem

-------------------------------------------
Birmingham Independent Photographers
http://bip.wikispaces.com/

On Mon, 6 Mar 2006 17:14:28 -0500, "James Silverton"
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote:

Hello, All!

I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at it in
the library today. According to them, despite the moans of art
professors about the loss of "art and poetry", Kodak has
announced stopping manufacture of black and white paper and Agfa
and Ilford are bankrupt. AFAIK, that only leaves Fuji among the
major manufacturers. It looks like digital photography is going
to gather more recruits!

Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7 prints of
my granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were very satisfactory.
The image file was produced by scanning a commercial black and
white print.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

When vinyl tanked due to CDs, small firms popped up to produce vinyl
again, issuing various albums, some even from big named bands for
those who wanted them. Although I don't see this happening with
film, printer paper might be feasible to do on a smaller scale.
-Rich

Jem Raid wrote:
Good riddance.

snip

Digital cameras and inkjet printers have freed photographers from all the
horrible drudgery and allowed them to concentrate on the image, its sense
and content.

Funny how photography looses more and more drudgery, becomes more and
more advanced, gets easier and easier, but doesn't get any better.

Austin

"Rich" wrote in message
...

When vinyl tanked due to CDs, small firms popped up to produce vinyl
again, issuing various albums, some even from big named bands for
those who wanted them. Although I don't see this happening with
film, printer paper might be feasible to do on a smaller scale.


BW photo paper is pretty low tech, isn't it?
The big names may not care about it, but there
will be small niche vendors willing to make it, I bet.

And color photo paper still has a huge market, so
it's not going away.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

"James Silverton" not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote in message
...
Hello, All!

I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at it in the
library today. According to them, despite the moans of art professors
about the loss of "art and poetry", Kodak has announced stopping
manufacture of black and white paper and Agfa and Ilford are bankrupt.
AFAIK, that only leaves Fuji among the major manufacturers. It looks like
digital photography is going to gather more recruits!

Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7 prints of my
granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were very satisfactory. The image
file was produced by scanning a commercial black and white print.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA

Hi.

Don't be taken in by the harbingers of doom and gloom, especially those in
the Press Corps.

Believe it when you see it, or rather, can't find it for sale.

Would you believe, you can still get new lamps for Kodak Brownie Film
Projectors. They are made one or two at a time by some enthusiast in the
USA and exported worldwide.

Roy G

Tesco wrote on Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:02:47 GMT:

TN "James Silverton" not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote
TN in message ...
?? Hello, All!
??
?? I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at
?? it in the library today. According to them, despite the
?? moans of art professors about the loss of "art and
?? poetry", Kodak has announced stopping manufacture of black
?? and white paper and Agfa and Ilford are bankrupt. AFAIK,
?? that only leaves Fuji among the major manufacturers. It
?? looks like digital photography is going to gather more
?? recruits!
??
?? Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7
?? prints of my granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were
?? very satisfactory. The image file was produced by scanning
?? a commercial black and white print.
??
?? James Silverton
?? Potomac, Maryland, USA

TN Hi.

TN Don't be taken in by the harbingers of doom and gloom,
TN especially those in the Press Corps.

TN Believe it when you see it, or rather, can't find it for
TN sale.

TN Would you believe, you can still get new lamps for Kodak
TN Brownie Film Projectors. They are made one or two at a
TN time by some enthusiast in the USA and exported worldwide.

Can you tell me just who is making black and white paper? How
does the price compare, in present day dollars if you would,
with what it cost 10 years ago?

James Silverton.

"James Silverton" not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote in message
...
Hello, All!

I don't usually read things like Art News but I looked at it in the
library today. According to them, despite the moans of art professors
about the loss of "art and poetry", Kodak has announced stopping
manufacture of black and white paper and Agfa and Ilford are bankrupt.
AFAIK, that only leaves Fuji among the major manufacturers. It looks like
digital photography is going to gather more recruits!

Incidentally, the last time I had some monochrome 5x7 prints of my
granddaughter done by MotoPhoto they were very satisfactory. The image
file was produced by scanning a commercial black and white print.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA
Funny you should mention that. I got an email today from an acquaintance
who attended something called "The Silver Conference," at the Pasadena Art
Center College of Design. Put on by Ilford, and heavily attended, the
Ilford reps claim that they are not abandoning monochrome, but, indeed,
their monochrome film and paper sales increased more than 40% last year. (No
surprise, there, with everybody else bailing on it, somebody has to be
selling stuff!) They are introducing a new selenium toner soon, and several
new sizes in sheet film. The rumor abounded, apparently, that Kodak may
follow suite.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com