Bill Atkinson is an outstanding computer engineer who worked on the original Macintosh, and invented many basic concepts now in use, like the Menu Bar, and he created the world's first paint program, MacPaint.
He is now working as an engineer in color printing fidelity, and also as a fine art photographer. His new (first) book Within The Stone has groundbreaking color intensity and fidelity for four-color printing. He is photographing the inside of polished rocks and getting amazing, abstract results.
I have just watched an interview with him on Luminous Landscape video Journal, and the sheer work and care this man puts into precision and fidelity is just breathtaking. His whole philosophy, which he sticks to rigidly, is to never change anything, he wants to get the photograph looking exactly like reality. And the funny thing is that by photographing just the right things, he somehow gets art anyway.
The story he tells in the interview about printing the book is fascinating. He couldn't find any American printer who was willing to work with him to improve the color printing technology. (Not changing the printing presses, only fine-tuning their use and color profiles, apparently.) But he worked with a Japanese one. They printed his book, and they got their machines optimized. It took six trips to Japan!
The amazing thing is that after this was done, this Japanese printer now has a press which prints far higher quality and richer colors, perfect precision, far above industry standard. And they can print much faster than before, no trial and error, which is essential, for running a press in Japan costs $8,000 an hour, so it saves big money. And still other companies in the printing industry are very reluctant to go this route.
This is funny, I made an order and canceled it once I saw the S&H price of $22... If the book was $60 and S&H $2 I'd buy it with no questions. Same total different game. I hope the local library will get the book eventually...
ReplyDeleteWow! If this is a stone, then I'll be a pumpkin's uncle! :-)
ReplyDelete"And the funny thing is that by photographing just the right things, he somehow gets art anyway."
Not something YOU would be capable of, eh? Much less even make a living out of it. ;-)
Have a look around you, Mr Stobblehouse: there's art to be found even in a wretched industrial town right near your house, if you look carefully.
And then there's this guy: Ayman Maliki, who does just the opposite. Making photos through art.
You're very kind, but I make my living as a publisher/editor. I haven't sold any of my own photos ever.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused, is Maliki a painter or a photographer?
ReplyDeleteHe likes it......hey Mickey!
ReplyDeleteMaliki's a painter, it's official. (Even though Wikipedia still hasn't caught up with him yet.)
ReplyDeleteI think it's obvious, in spite of the incredible detail level, that the composition is carefully arranged/corrected for painting style.
In any case, such photo-realistic painting is quite a feat. A rare talent, that man.
A brief bio (translated from arabic, orthograph of names uncertain), for any amateur "Wikipediatricians" out there:
Ayman Maliki, born in Iran (1976), started studying drawing at age 15 under the teaching of iranian artist Murtada Katozian. Graduated from the Teheran Art University, took part in several expositions in 1998, including the Teheran Realistic Drawing Expo (Modern Art Museum), a show in the Kara Sapz Studio, and one in the Saad-Abad Palace.
His talent in life-like detail inspired awe: persian carpets, flying hair, the perfection of bare feet, chalk marks on a little girl's skin, the expressions of the small child and the old man carrying him... He even minds bits of loose thread in the clothes fabrics.
He received an award for "best painter in the world". (Details unknown.)
The problem is, a web search for his name will give out a flurry of news articles on the Iraqi war, mentioning Prime Minister Maliki and/or Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Argumentum ad Google: if it's not under the world's spotlights, it's like it doesn't even exist on the internet.
Oh, and Eolake... You haven't sold any of your photos, but I know for a fact that you sometimes give them out as valuable gifts. When you like somebody's relentless commenting, for instance. ;-)