George Tice at Nailya Alexander

This article was originally published on January 9, 2013

Going back almost thirty years to when I attended George Tice's course at Parsons in Making the Fine Print, I remember him telling the class that he had once asked Irving Penn about the process the latter used in making his own platinum prints and that Penn had replied it was a "secret."

In his current exhibit at the Nailya Alexander Gallery, Tice shows he did not need to learn anyone's secrets in order to master this medium. These are among the best platinum prints (most actually use a combination of platinum and palladium salts) I've seen. Photographers who have worked with alternative processes know the difficulties involved. Chief among these is coating the paper evenly, under low light, with an emulsion of light sensitive salts. It's a frustrating process, especially when working with large sizes, and the photographer must be prepared to experience a number of failures for every successful print. In Tice's work, the emulsions are spread so evenly that one might think he was using professionally manufactured papers. (As a historical note, platinum paper was in fact manufactured until the outbreak of World War I when soaring prices for precious metals caused Kodak to discontinue the product. The great British photographer Frederick Evans was so chagrined at this loss that he retired from photography altogether.) 

A platinum print is the ultimate achievement for any photographer working with black & white film. Not only is it more archival than any silver gelatin print, even after selenium toning, but it has a tonal range that allows all the detail in the negative to be shown in the print. One has only to look at those on display here to recognize their superiority to traditional silver darkroom prints.

I was curious whether the enlarged negatives used to make these oversize (20" x 24") prints were analog or digital and whether they had been made by the photographer himself or by a third party. There was no documentation regarding this, though, and the gallery attendant did not know the answers to my questions.

George Tice, who was Steichen's last exhibition printer, is simply the finest black & white photographer ever to have worked in a darkroom. These photographs have been selected from Tice's best over the past several decades and many are already well known to those familiar with his work. He is especially skilled at low light photography as can be seen in Petit's Mobile Station and Telephone Booth, 3 A.M., both shot in 1974.

The exhibit continues through February 16, 2013.