Response to Salgado's technique

"Salgado shoots mainly large format (8x10, 4x5), scans the negs, adds the grain in Photoshop and prints new negs on a LVT film recorder. He prints the new negs on a good paper and there you are. Adobe thinks of adding a "Salgado" filter to the new version of Photoshop next year." This is the biggest crock of crap I've seen in ages! Sarcastic posts like this one and the people behind them should simply be banned from this forum. I have a friend who received an equally sardonic reply from this guy a few months back and never returned to the forum again. Yelled at me for even suggesting this forum. Salgado shoots only 35 mm. Used to use Nikons and nowadays Leicas. I've heard that they sponsor his projects. He uses mainly Tri-X and Rodinal which yields wonderful tones, grain and sharpness. (Eugene Smith used Nikons and the Olympus 1/2 frame, Tri-X exclusively and FG-7 1:15.) IMO, film and developer have little to do with the greatness of a photographer. KNOWING your film and having that magical eye are what counts. Smith used to say, 'Stop all your testing ad-infinitum. There is no perfect film/developer combo...shoot, shoot, shoot learning one film well.' Best...Howard

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