overpriced Brakhage on eBay?

From: Chris Kennedy (email suppressed)
Date: Sun Sep 30 2007 - 23:39:34 PDT


Of course, if its a reversal print it just might look better than a new
restoration. Wasn't really aware of this until a friend pointed out this as
a problem with some restorations, that they can't always replicate the
richness of some older prints. It is impressive to hear from people with a
longer visual memory for some of this work, that they can notice/care for
the difference.

For my money, the 35mm restoration of Scorpio Rising doesn't have the same
punch that the 16mm print from Canyon has, well used or no. The 35mm is a
museum object now, more grainy and diffuse, while the 16mm is still a
focused mono wham to the eye & ear. You can dance to the 16mm, for the 35mm
you just have to sit still.

Of course, my money isn't going to buy me a Brakhage print anytime soon,
ebay or no :)

Chris

>
> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:05:42 -0400
> From: John Matturri <email suppressed>
> Subject: Re: overpriced Brakhage on eBay?
>
> I used to think that the notion of a vintage print in photography was nothing
> but a marketing scam, which it largely is. But that might not be so where the
> materials for the original print weren't available for the later print. That
> will happen increasingly in both photography and film as materials disappear.
> It may be the even a beat up print might have historical importance in
> suggesting what an ideal print might be like (perhaps in anticipation of
> possible future digital processes that will be able to reproduce the effect of
> a particular print stock perfectly). Whether that historical importance, if it
> exists, is worth the extra cash, I have no idea.
>
> j
>
> Fred Camper:
> "Vintage prints" do not mean the same thing in avant-garde film as they do in
> the photo world. There, the photographer has typically made a "vintage" print
> her- or him-self, and near the time the image was shot. Many avant-garde
> filmmakers did not even check the prints that came back from the lab very
> carefully. Also, a "vintage" film print may have been projected dozens of
> times, and have scratches and splices and coffee stains and more.
>
> Fred Camper
> Chicago
>
>

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