Dana Point, California (detail), negative April 15, 2006; print April 25, 2010, Scott B. Davis, platinum and palladium print. The J. Paul Getty Museum, gift of the artist. © Scott. B. Davis
Propagating Platinum Photographs in Urban and Natural Landscapes
GETTY CENTER
Museum Lecture Hall
This is a past event
This event has been canceled as part of Getty’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Introduced in 1873, the platinum printing process helped viewers see photography as a fine art medium, capable of creating moody, velvety images. The complex technique fell out of favor at the advent of WWI but a number of artists, like Doris Ulmann and Edward Weston, continued to explore the process for its aesthetic qualities. Artist Scott B. Davis employs historical printing methods today, and also builds his own large-format cameras to photograph urban and natural landscapes. In conversation with assistant curator of photography Arpad Kovacs, Davis discusses his photographic practice and the challenges of working with a medium that is notoriously difficult to manage.