New works in Platinum
Dave Aharonian
October 14 through November 28, 2010
We are pleased to open an exhibition of new works by local fine art photographer, Dave Aharonian, featuring his exquisite west coast landscapes and nudes. Aharonian works primarily in platinum / palladium to make his hand crafted fine art prints.
The platinum / palladium print process dates back to the mid 1800s and features a unique luminous quality to the tonal range and the only truly archival photographic print process. The printing process requires the artist to hand mix and apply the sensitized emulation to fine art paper making each print unique as no two are absolutely identical.
View the FULL COLLECTION
For print sales & information please contact the gallery, diana@luzgallery.com
Aharonian's fine art photographs have centred on themes of the West Coast landscape and the nude figure in the landscape. He is deeply affected by the surrounding landscape which is why he chose to make Vancouver Island his home. “This place where the ocean meets land is where I feel most at home and for years I’ve been trying to capture how this landscape affects me”.
He has also been intrigued with photographing nudes for many years now, but it wasn’t until he began placing the nude within the coastal landscape that he found the ideal way to portray the nude figure. Combining the rainforest landscape with the nude has led to the creation of photographs which he feels represent the ultimate merging of two incredible forms of beauty.
Aharonian prints his fine art photographs primarily in Platinum. Platinum/Palladium printing involves hand-coating various types of papers with an emulsion containing platinum and palladium metals. His prints actually contain very little or no platinum, being mostly palladium, but the term “Platinum” is used to describe the many variations in this process. This is a contact printing process where once the paper is coated and dried, the actual negative is placed on the paper and exposed to ultraviolet light. A large negative is required and many of his photographs are made with large format cameras. The print is then rinsed, cleared and dried. Because of the metals involved, these prints are the most archival form of photographs ever made. Platinum prints are characterized by a slightly warm tone and a very long tonal range, which perfectly matches the vision he has always had for black and white photography.