Pierre Lemire’s Black and White Silver Gelatin Prints are on display at the Art Gallery of Golden until Mar 12.
“This collection of photographs was taken over a number of years in the mountains of Western Canada and abroad,” Lemire wrote. “The scenes were very exciting, if not more so, than the adventure itself. It is a privilege to be asked by the Art Gallery of Golden to exhibit the collection.
“The prints in this exhibition are all printed on ILFORD silver gelatin paper using a traditional darkroom process.
“This process is still used, but has become less common from developing the black and white film to printing the actual photograph. Printing begins with the making of test strips on sheets of photo paper in order to find the right value and contrast for a work print. More adjustment is necessary to achieve the final print.
“All prints are made by hand and are influenced by many factors, such as temperature of the developer, light exposure of the paper, and finally the intuition of the photographer who is working on the print.
“The negative can be printed in different ways to convey different moods. The result is a unique print each time, since this is a manual process rather than a mechanical one.”
