The Lecturer Discusses Edward Curtis’s Vash Gon

 
The heaviest exposures turn black to grey, a clay-
like texture that muddies the locks. Look:

on film, white skin is already reasonably light red.

Optimum reproduction, thus,
is never “exact”: to duplicate a subject’s appearance
you must experiment with the chemistry
of photographic stock.

of development, even the plush depth of the light
filtering onto your set to help you get the face you want
just right.

in mixed groups, not everyone will be equally shot.
Recall those stills in which
Poitier posed by Katherine Hepburn
and her face came out looking like beefsteak?

Try warmer lights, ‘bastard
amber’ gels and tungsten on dimmers to avoid
disappearance: dark kills

most detail, creating the look (as you see in this photo)
of all head, doubled with shadow.

Though the pose he’s chosen
seems familiar, doesn’t it? Washington’s profile

slicing the Delaware, so straight that gaze takes us
back to the wet and brilliant ice;
those cold, white stars;
the rocking of the frozen boat-

And yet here the lashes appear
powdery and false.

It’s the technology he chose, you see,
its deceptive gestures towards mimicry
that in the end makes all our faces
hemorrhage light.

 

Careful composition is the key to human beauty

so balance your subjects, examine your make up.
Shoot daily. Remember:
on film, only the imagination

never disappoints.