Photographers Herb Ascherman and Unni Krishnan Pulikkal Present “West Meets East” at Loftworks

 

Fri 8/3-Sat 9/1

Fine art and professional photographer Herbert Ascherman has spent nearly half a century pursuing his passion; however, it wasn’t until roughly 20 years ago when he turned his attention to the resurgent art of platinum photography.

The 140-year-old process by which a negative of the image is placed on platinum-coated paper and exposed to ultraviolet light produces jaw-dropping ethereal qualities of light and depth.

As an internationally-recognized photographer, Ascherman’s work has been exhibited and commercially published throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan and India. It was during a trip to the latter where he first met world-renowned photographer Unni Krishnan Pulikkal.

Now the two photographers (and friends) are teaming up for Loftworks Gallery exhibit “West Meets East,” with opening night takes place at Fri /3 @ 6pm.

CoolCleveland talked to Ascherman about his love of platinum photography, his friend Pulikkal and the “West Meets East” exhibit.

CoolCleveland: Let’s start with Pulikkal. Tell us about your friendship.

Herb Ascherman: We’ve been friends and associates for 15 years since I made my first trip to India around 2003 to work with him on an international convocation of photographers. As a consequence, we developed a very intense personal relationship between his family and my family. Over the years, I’ve worked with him to help found and direct the second photography museum in the entire country of India in the state of Kerala, which is located in southern India. It’s his project. I’ve served as its consultant and just general advisor. It’s a fascinating place.

CC: What role does platinum photography play in the upcoming exhibit?

HA: I’ve been a platinum printer for 20 years and he has become interested recently in platinum printing. I print directly from an 8×10 negative, which I take on an 8×10 camera. His negatives are made from digital files and then printed in the platinum process. Because he couldn’t get a visa in time to get here for the opening, the negatives were shipped and I printed them in my darkroom. So the show consists of 50 prints, 25 from each of us. My photos are floral arrangements, which I’ve never shown before, and pictures from the Forest of Fontainebleau outside of Paris. His images are abstract and surrealistic. He’s never shown either of these bodies of work before, let alone in platinum. It’s a rather unique show as far as imagery and process.

CC: In layman’s term, how would you describe platinum photography?

HA: It’s reputed to be one of the most beautiful photographic processes ever developed. It was patented by William Willis in England in 1873, and is practiced by some of the finest artists, photographers around the world. The art paper is literally coated with a combination of platinum and several other chemicals. It’s dried, the negative is placed on top of the print exposed and developed. It takes two hours to make one print, but what you have is an image that’s embedded in the fibers of paper itself and is virtually indelible. So we are fond of saying that the image will outlast the paper upon which is printed. The essence of the process is that I deal in artifacts. My photographs are as valuable for the piece of paper they’re on, as the image content that they contain.

CC: Finally, what do you hope people take away from the “West Meets East” exhibit?

HA: First of all, I hope they find pleasure in the viewing. I hope they can share our vision as something which not only uplifts the human condition, but puts a smile on their face or even better motivates them to plunk down a check and take something home and enjoy it. Secondly, photography is a communicative process. If I’m not clear in my intent and message, then the viewer is going to come away confused or befuddled. So the beauty of platinum, the beauty of these large negatives and the size of these prints, is that people can engage with them, learn from them, experience from them and most importantly they can just enjoy them. The whole essence of the exhibition is here are two guys who love what they do. We’re sharing what we love with the hopes that the viewer will enjoy what we have seen and perceived as much as we did. There’s no political message. There’s no social message. There’s no artistic message. It’s just images that we see, we take, we enjoy and we want to share.

[Written by John Benson]

Cleveland, OH 44103

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