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| Left: James Pitts, Night Blooming Cereus, 1999, Platinum Palladium Print, 5x4", Edition of 25, $1000 Right: Beth Moon, Nepenthes Coccinea, Platinum print, 7.5x5", Edition of 9, $900 |
In celebration of the spring season, we have installed a selection of Platinum prints focused on floral still lives from gallery artists Beth Moon and James Pitts.
You may be wondering, upon reading the opening sentence of this week's post, what is a platinum print anyway? To that I say: fantastic question.
Platinum printing is a method that uses light-sensitive platinum (as opposed to silver in "traditional" darkroom printing) to make a picture! This printing methodology dates back to the late 1800's and is known for being a process that has the potential to produce an incredible tonal range as well as to achieve archival permanence. When making a platinum print, the image is produced by placing a negative on top of paper coated with a photosensitive solution and then exposing that paper to light; this process is referred to as contact printing and is notoriously difficult to do well (for more in-depth descriptions of alternative processes, check out this article!).
James Pitts and Beth Moon are two who have mastered this laborious workflow through years and years of diligent practice. Their mastery is apparent, and though the overall practices of the two artists are wildly different, they converge in floral formalism.
Beth Moon's plant portraits are from her portfolio entitled The Savage Garden. This work serves as an investigation of the formal beauty of carnivorous plants. Moon's images don't treat these plants as our culture often does, with some element of novelty and exoticism, but instead highlights their supple curves and delicate structure. This attention to detail and composition is mirrored in the platinum works of James Pitts, who has been making still lives of flowers for well over twenty years as meditative studies of light and form. In Pitts' work, the flower is simply the vehicle for serene expression.
Take a sneak peak at what's up on the wall below and explore more work from Beth Moon and James Pitts as well!
>> Beth Moon Interview <<
>> James Pitts on his Platinum printing origin story <<
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| James Pitts, Wild Poppy with Seed Pod in Girard's Vase, 1996, Platinum Palladium print, 5x4″, Edition of 25, $1000 |
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| Beth Moon, Nepenthes Bicalcarata, Platinum print, 12x8″, Edition of 15, $1200 |
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| James Pitts, Digbyana, Platinum Palladium print, 5x4″, Edition of 25, $1000 |
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| Beth Moon, Nepenthes Ventricosa, Platinum print, 12x8″, Edition of 15, $1200 |
>> Explore Beth Moon's online exhibition, BAOBAB, here! <<
>> See more portfolios from James Pitts here! <<
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Print costs are current up to the time of posting and are subject to change.
photo-eye Gallery is proud to represent Beth Moon and James Pitts.
For more information, and to purchase prints by Beth Moon and James Pitts, please contact Gallery Director Anne Kelly or Gallery Assistant Delaney Hoffman, or you may also call us at 505-988-5152 x202