The Printer’s Perspective

December 13, 2019

SUNSTUDIOS

Having carefully considered each file before printing all 100, we asked Selena Simpson from SUNPrint to share some of the decisions made along the way to get the stunning results currently on display within This Time It’s Personal 2019.

Print sales close this Sunday December 15 – this is your final chance to buy with all proceeds donated to Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

Image by Isamu Sawa

Sparmannia Africana by Isamu Sawa

1/1 on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton

1120 x 1440mm - $1250

Isamu has put a lot of thought already into his print process. The textured cotton he requested is a great choice for him because the image is so detailed. The tooth of the paper really pops the detail and make it feel alive and 3D. And the media can take a whole lot of ink which means we can get a really beautiful deep black. Usually on a rag, the ink sits a little closer to the surface, so the matt black is not absorbed all the way down into the paper like it is on gloss. This raises the black level compared to a more photographic paper. Canon's matt black ink is awesome and the results on both the Ilford textured and smooth papers are fantastic.

Image by Toby Burrows

Untitled by Toby Burrows

1/1 prints available on Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Sonora

1120 x 880mm - $950

Toby has given us this particular limited edition print to celebrate our 10-year anniversary of TTIP coinciding with his 10-year anniversary of his series Fallen – which is pretty amazing. We chose a smooth cotton media to suit the other limited-edition images from this body of work. Sonora accentuates beautiful tones with a nice deep black and gentle response. This is an amazing price for a limited-edition print – only achievable as it will be sold for charity rather than profit.

Image by Anna Pogossova

de Milo (Studio II) from Lipstick Ladies series by Anna Pogossova

3 prints available on Ilford Galerie Crystal Gloss

835 x 1120mm - $675

605 x 815mm - $300

Anna often finishes her work with acrylic face mounting which is where a piece of acrylic is sandwiched in front of the print, becoming a stand-alone presentation without framing. She loves a high gloss with good saturation. So it was a no-brainer that we'd use Crystal Gloss stock for this work. The work has come up beautifully.

Image by Juliet Taylor

Untitled by Juliet Taylor

1/1 available on Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Gloss

730 x 605mm - $550

Juliet has given us a tonal black and white and we've chosen the Ilford Gold Fibre Gloss for that. It has a real photographic feel similar to what you'd get if you were doing a fibre-based print in a dark room. It suited what Juliet was doing because it has a documentary feeling with a bit of an edge.

Image by Sylvè Colless

Eliza by Sylvè Colless

1/1 on Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Sonora

1120 x 800mm - $950

Sylvè and I discussed the tests prints and it was the artist request that we used a rag paper. We used the Ilford Smooth Cotton Sonora. Often when printing on a rag paper I would consider deepening the blacks and lighten the highlights a little bit because rag papers tend to have less contrast, especially when compared than the image you see on screen. Looking at the skin tones and the colour palette, it was suited to a smooth rag to emphasise that quality in the image. The Sonora is slightly warm tone too which can be a beautiful thing for highlights in skin. You have these cool blue tones in majority and a slightly warmed highlight going through it to add an extra dimension.

Under The Overpass. Umeå, Sweden by Steve Greenaway

Under The Overpass. Umeå, Sweden by Steve Greenaway

1/1 available on Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Sonora

1120 x 800mm - $675

The level of detail in Steve's work and the general feeling lent itself to a smooth rag media. Even though the paper is slightly warm-toned, the greys and the neutrals within it feels high key still.

Image by Simon Harsent

Untitled by Simon Harsent

1/1 available on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton

1300 x 580mm - $1250

Simon Harsent has generously given us one of his images of icebergs from his second series of Melt. In his new series he’s made a diptych with a reverse negative and also a colour shot. Traditionally he’s used the coated paper so we chose an Ilford Gold Fibre Gloss which has a slight texture and a beautiful photographic print feeling.