Rock Detail, Negative Print, Point Lobos, California

John is pleased to offer his image Rock Detail, Negative Print, Point Lobos, California at a very affordable price.

This print will be mounted on 14x17" 2-ply museum board, with a discrete embossed stamp, denoting this is a silver gelatin print by John Sexton, in the lower right corner of the board. This intimate size print is approximately 7-3/8 x 6" in size, personally printed by John (as are all his prints), signed, and processed to current archival standards. Please note that this print will NOT be overmatted.

The prints will be carefully packaged and shipped fully insured.

Normally there is a long waiting period for John's original prints. This is a rare opportunity to obtain a print with quick delivery, and at a very reasonable price.

THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPH
All of us are influenced in our photography by numerous sources. I feel most fortunate to have had the opportunity to study, and become friends, with some truly superb photographers. Among these are Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, and Brett Weston. This image Rock Detail, Negative Print, Point Lobos was directly influenced by two of those individuals - Brett and Wynn. In January 1974 I along with two friends, and fellow photography majors - John Charles Woods and Sharon Deveaux - made a photography trip to the Monterey Peninsula. We visited with Wynn Bullock and Brett Weston, along with Ansel Adams and Henry Gilpin, and of course made lots of photographs.

As many may know, Wynn Bullock made several well-known photographs that are negative prints - with the tones reversed from the subject. We saw some of these negative prints at Wynn's during our visit. Wynn had explained to us his technique to produce an "interpositive" to make a negative print. I made careful notes of his procedure, thinking that someday this might be interesting to try. The following day we were photographing at Weston Beach with Brett for the first time. The experience was exciting beyond belief. At first, all we wanted to do was watch Brett work, but he encouraged us to do our own photography, and we all fell into a rhythm. It was a wonderful morning that I certainly will never forget.

I made this photograph with a borrowed Calumet 4x5 view camera and lens. It would be a few months later when I would purchase my own 4x5 view camera, a used 210 mm lens, and a used Pentax spotmeter. I used Kodak Tri-X Professional 4x5 film, and developed it in Kodak HC-110 developer. I was so excited and pleased when I viewed the negatives on my light box. They looked great to me - in those days, many of my negatives did not look so "great" if you know what I mean! When I first printed the negative it was a frustrating experience. No matter what I tried, the prints seemed lifeless. They just didn't convey the feeling of excitement that I experienced when making this somewhat abstract photograph. In addition, the best print I could make didn't look nearly as good as the negative did. I then had an aha moment...I could try the technique Wynn Bullock had shared with us and attempt to make a negative print! I know it was more luck than skill that my first adventure making a negative print worked out so well. Maybe I just had some good vibes coming my way from Brett and Wynn!

I hope you enjoy this special Black and White Friday image, along with the story of how it came to be. When I recently put the negative (I mean positive!) in the enlarger and saw the image appear in the developer tray, I was transported back to the excitement of first making this negative print as well as the unforgettable experience that John, Sharon, and I shared together so many years ago. As my long-time friend, and mentor, Ruth Bernhard often said, If you want someone to look closely at your photographs, make small, intimate prints! I hope you enjoy this Black and White Friday print offer of Rock Detail, Negative Print in this small size.