Photography News | Issue 64 | photographynews.co.uk
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Feature
The next time she reviews the pictures is usuallywhen she uploads themtoher desktop, a stage she likes to delay as long as possible. “If I review the pictures too soon, I’m almost always disappointed. The excitement is too fresh and it’s impossible to be objective.” Fine art, limited-edition prints are the main element of Rachael’s business, so printing is an important and enjoyable stage of the process for her – from choosing the right paper to watching it come out of the machine. “My work is fully digital now and I love it, but it has perhaps been at the expense of that feeling of craft that comes from a more tactile process,” she explains. For Rachael, printing brings some of that tangibility back. “There’s nothing like holding a print in your hand. Photographs come to life when they’re printed, they seem to take on a significance that doesn’t tend to exist in the ephemeral world of digital sharing.” Almost all of Rachael’s editing takes place in Adobe Lightroom – she rarely does anything that couldn’t have been done easily in the wet darkroom. Once she thinks an image is finished, she will print it and pin it to her wall, livingwith it for days, or evenweeks. “Bydoing this, I find I notice things I want to change, so I change them and print it again. Finally, if I’m happy with a picture after this, it’s ready for my portfolio.” This process has had a positive impact on her own work, helping her to improve her photography, “It has forced me to slow down and be more considered,” she says. I try to make pictures that are less about documenting scenery andmore about communicating how it felt to be there
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Rachael uses a range of paperswhen it comes to printing her work, including Fotospeed’s NST BrightWhite 315 and PlatinumEtching 285. She says: “I prefermatte paper for black &white – NST BrightWhite 315 captures awide range of toneswith a gentle, natural texture and a purewhite base. The grainier texture andwarmth of PlatinumEtching 285 is perfect formy Perigee portfolio.”
rachaeltalibart.com www.fotospeed.com
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