ABOUT US...

We love black and white film. And perhaps the thing we love most about it is the same thing that has, for over a century, captivated so many photographers - film’s ability to be manipulated by hand. From the earliest contact prints to today’s silver gelatin enlargements, the film process has remained essentially a mechanical one.  We are lovers of the handmade, of the slow and instinctive element of guesswork, of the alchemical process, of the mysteries of the darkroom and of the magical qualities inherent in a piece of film. We are not Luddites, and we find arguments praising or condemning digital imaging to be irrelevant.

We appreciate digital’s functionality, control and depth of creativity.  Some of our artists also enjoy creating digital images and you can view such work via links to their own web sites.  Film is not necessarily better than digital but it is, in fact, unique and more to the point, it is a beautiful object in and of itself.  A strip of negatives holds, more than bits of “information”; it is a composite of shadows and light, the literal, physical slice of an artist’s vision.  And it readily responds to our direct hand manipulation of it.   It requires a person to roll up his sleeves and work with an array of materials - film, chemical, water, light, toner - to bring that image to life.

It is these aspects – the physicality of the medium and the direct engagement with materials - which is central to the idea of our Guild. When the printer works in the lab, he uses his hands to develop, enlarge, expose, dip, soak, wash, dry and press the photographic print. And the immediacy of this handiwork has a value that transcends functionality or aesthetics.  Just as, say, a piece of furniture can be designed and built by computer and can be beautiful and well made, we still want the woodworker to craft for us pieces of furniture solely by hand. We value these works, in part, because the hand of man is evident in the final product.  And we invest these finished works of art with added appreciation. As artists, viewers and collectors of film photography, we value the film photograph not only because of the power of the image but because we appreciate the process used to create it.

It is our hope and our intent to keep film photography alive and in the minds of viewers, artists and collectors alike - in spite of the march toward digital - not so much out of romance, and certainly not out of nostalgia, but out of a belief that film is a gorgeous thing, as worthy of preservation and admiration as any other handmade effort.  And as worthy of our respect and appreciation today, at the dawn of the 21 st Century, as it was at the dawn of the 20th.

If you feel the same way, all of the images on this web site may be purchased.  Just click on the photo you’re interested in for purchasing details.  If you are a photographer and are interested in what it would take to become a member of 4260, you’ll find information on our membership page.