g. Paul Bishop
MASTER OF THE DARKROOM
An Interview
This article was written back in 1979 and refers to g. Paul
Bishop in the present tense.
g. Paul Bishop, a master portrait photographer
who has lived and worked at the same location in Berkeley, California,
photographing hundreds of famous and not-so-famous people for over 30 years.
He is also a lecturer in visual design at the University of California;
sometimes with his classes taking place at his home in his kitchen which
converts into a darkroom ... or is it a darkroom that converts into a kitchen?
DP: Since your darkroom/kitchen
arrangement is so unusual, especially for a pro of long standing like
yourself, let's start there. Will you describe it?
GPB: Well, (laughing) I think the best
way is to say it's a system. We live here and work here and have raised three
children here in the studio. Diapers --- in those days, they didn't have
Pampers --- the wash-type diapers were hung on my film drying rack. I still
use the rack ... but for film drying, not for diapers. Our system begins in
the morning. My wife and I have breakfast in the kitchen, then the dishes are
washed and put away, and out come the chemicals. I try to do my sittings
mostly in the afternoon and my "darkrooming" in the morning. At
lunchtime, my supplies are put out of the way and we have a simple lunch. The
sink area is always kept clear. If I'm going to "darkroom" in the
afternoon, the trays come back out again.
In the early days, I used to get so angry with my wife. She
loved fresh diapers. She would snap them and all this fine lint would land all
over everything. Then it was hours worth of spotting. Now, my wife does all of
the spotting, although we do have pretty clean prints these days.
DP: No more diapers?
GPB: No, though our kitchen is still
interesting, even tax-wise. It is over 50 percent darkroom so we treat it for
tax purposes as a darkroom. We just do our cooking in the darkroom instead of
doing our darkrooming in the kitchen.
DP: What about grease? Isn't that a
problem?
GPB: No, I keep my equipment well
covered though we do have a little grease. My old friend Sam Erlich would
always say, "It's that grease that makes your prints so fine."
DP: How did you learn about darkroom
work? Did you teach yourself, read books, or ask people?
GPB: My idol was Edward Weston. I spent
as much time with him as I possibly could. I'd go charging down to Carmel and
just get in his way, hanging around. I'm sure Weston found me very pesty.
DP: You just went down there? Were you
introduced to him first?
GPB: Many people did just appear
uninvited. I happened to have a mutual acquaintance whom I went with for the
first time. I was so taken with Edward and his photography that I learned more
than I ever expected. If you look back through my prints, you'll find that no
matter what format I used, if they were 8X10, they were 8X10 full frame; if
they were 35mm, they were in the proportion of one to one-and-a-half.
DP: No cropping of the negatives ... ?
GPB: Correct. I think just now I'm
beginning, after all these years, to find the freedom to stray from this rule.
DP: To say, well, I really would like it
better cropped this way?
GPB: Yes.
DP: I gather you learned printing by
picking up Edward Weston's darkroom techniques?
GPB: Yes. My darkroom is very
complicated now compared to his. He had a pull chain with a light bulb up over
the table. That was how he exposed his prints, by pulling the chain. Pretty
soon, if he felt the paper was exposed enough, he'd pull the chain and turn
off the light. Actually, Edward apologized to me once because there was an
enlarger over in the corner which belonged to his son, Brett. Edward would
have nothing to do with it. Newcomers to the darkroom were always carefully
told that that was Brett's enlarger. Maybe Edward's darkroom forced me to
realize that his work had to come out of him, not out of anything else.
Pulling a chain on a light bulb was enough.
DP: What kind of enlarger do you use?
GPB: I'm on my second Durst enlarger.
The M601. When I retire darkroom equipment, I move it up to our home in
the mountains. My old Durst is up there. Both enlargers are 2¼-inch format.
Here I use a color head because it's a little more diffuse for printing
black-and-white. I print most of my photographs on a grade #3 paper.
DP: What enlarging lenses do you prefer?
GPB: I use Nikkors---they're sharp. My
usual lens for 2¼-square film is a 105mm. Most photographers use an 80mm lens
with that format. I have to use the 50mm lens to make a bigger enlargement
than I can with my 80mm.
DP: Have you any darkroom methods that
you think are different than the norm?
GPB: My contact sheets and preliminary
prints --- I do them rapidly on Polycontrast paper. My finished prints are on
Ilfobrom graded paper, almost always grade #3. I use Dektol and run the
finished prints through selenium toner.
DP: Have you used any of the resin
coated paper?
GPB: I use RC paper for glossies all of
the time. It's so quick.
DP: I've heard you have a personal film
developer formula. How about passing it on?
GPB: Sure. I start out with 28 ounces of
water at 68ºF. Add one ounce of acetone at room temperature. It raises the
water temperature to 70ºF. Do not use paint thinner; it must be a fine-grade
acetone. I use U.S.P. (Pharmaceutical grade), but it doesn't have to be that
good. Then I add sodium sulfite---you have to be careful, that's F-I-T-E ---
there's a sulfate and a sulfide. I use 30 grains of sodium sulfite. For those
who don't want to bother with scales, that's a good rounded quarter-teaspoon
--- I still weigh mine out. Add 20 grains of Elon or Metol --- they are both
the same thing. I stir well and that's all. The important thing here to
remember is agitation. During the first 30 seconds, agitation is continuous.
Not a rapid shaking, but about two inversions every 5 seconds. Then it becomes
critical to leave the tank alone, let it sit for 1 minute. Then give it 5 more
seconds --- about two or three inversions --- each minute thereafter. I
haven't put any alkali in this developer, so you don't need an acid shortstop.
I use a plain water shortstop at 70ºF. Then fix.
DP: What about development time?
GPB: The time is different for each type
of film, and depends on how much contrast you want. For Panatomic-X, it's 12
to 13 minutes at 70ºF, depending on contrast. Plus-X is 13 to 14, Tri-X is 15
to 16 minutes. The more development, the more contrast.
DP: Do you process all your film at 70ºF?
GPB: Yes, I think 70ºF is easier to
maintain than 68. And 70ºF works fine. My developer doesn't soften the film.
If anything, it has a little tanning action, so you don't really have soft
film at 70ºF. I wash Panatomic-X for 6 minutes, Plus-X a little longer, and
Tri-X for at least 15 minutes.
DP: How about a washing aid? Do you use
hypo-clearing agent?
GPB: I do not. I was complaining
bitterly about scratches on the film, and a friend of mine said, "Oh,
you're using hypo eliminator, aren't you?" He was right. It softens the
film just enough so that you get scratches. It isn't necessary, because
thin-emulsion films will wash very rapidly. I do use Kodak's Photo-Flo, then I
hang the film up to dry. There's the diaper rack right there. If I'm in a
hurry for the film, I turn on a couple of burners on the stove. It isn't
directly under the film [and far enough away from the acetone], but it's close
enough so that it helps. I was in the Navy, and when you're a sailor you learn
to make maximum use of your space.
DP: Let's talk about your printing. You
make the contact sheets and then---?
GPB: I make proof prints, all burned and
dodged.
DP: What developer do you use for
printing?
GPB: Dektol for everything, diluted 1:2,
with an acetic acid stop bath.
DP: And fix?
GPB: I just bought some new stuff ---
Lauder Paper Fix. You dilute it 1:7 and fix 4 to 8 minutes. I usually use
Kodak fixer, but this came at a little better price. The only thing I vary
from the book is that I always use fresh hypo and I don't use two baths, just
one and [then dispose of it through a silver recovery system before it is
exhausted]. I use Permawash, and then I wash. I have the simplest washer in
the world---see!
DP: A tray with holes in it! After you
wash it, then what do you do---tone it?
GPB: Right, but first I use a little
solution of regular baking soda, about a teaspoon in a quart of water, just in
case there's a bit of acid left in the print. If there's any acid left, you'll
get yellow stains all over. I forgot to mention one thing with Ilfobrom. I
don't use fixer with an acid hardener added. The difference is --- if you take
Ilfobrom processed in a hardener fixer out in the sunlight you'll see a
definite purple glow, but if you don't put hardener in, you just get beautiful
black.
DP: How do you dry your prints?
GPB: Like this (he pulls out
aluminum-framed screens, stretched with cheesecloth). Air dry on muslin or
cheesecloth. Then I put them in the mounting press for a few seconds and they
are ready to mount.
DP: Earlier you mentioned that you were
in the Navy. Were you in a war? Did anything exciting happen to you?
GPB: Well, yes. Before WWII started, I
had switched from dental school into photography, and after first going
bankrupt, I had succeeded in establishing a going portrait business. So I
applied to be a photographic officer in the Navy, and was sent to Naval
Photography School. It was the only photography school I ever went to. Mostly
I did aerial photography: damage assessment and photographing beaches before
invasion. but because I was once dumb enough to keep going when I should have
turned back, I received a Presidential Citation, and as a result I was sent to
work with Edward Steichen. Alas, I was only in Edward's group about a month
before the Navy stopped his operations.
DP: What did you do while you worked
with Steichen?
GPB: We were sent on special trips to
make pictorial types of publicity pictures, instead of doing reconnaissance.
Edward later made a book out of the pictures called The Fighting Lady.
DP: When the war ended, did you go back
to what you had been doing before?
GPB: I didn't have a real purpose before
the war. I wanted to be a photographer, to take pictures, but I didn't have a
hard-core reason. I knew I wanted to work with people, and the war was a
catalyst for me. I saw people killed all around me, but I gained insight into
human beings' courage and basic goodness. Some other people were completely
devastated by the war; they saw only the negative side. I made up my mind that
human beings are the greatest things in the world. Photography became a tool
for me to gain understanding and show appreciation. That's all my work is
about, an affirmation that "people are wonderful."
__________
Bernson, Carol. "Fine Portraits From the
Kitchen." Darkroom Photography.
- excerpts. 1, No. 1 (March-April 1979). pp. 54-58.
-----
[Return to Articles
Page]
