Photograph by Kenn Bisio, signed.
On Ilford Multigrade Fiber paper, 6×9 inches.
Mounted and matted on 11×14, 100% museum boards
$1,000.00
Venezia, 1977. Piazza de San Marco. I made this photograph from the bronze horses atop the loggia at Saint Mark’s Basicilia, lookin down with a Nikon F2 and a 300mm f/4 lens at f/4.
The Horses of Saint Mark (Italian: Cavalli di San Marco), also known as the Triumphal Quadriga or Horses of the Hippodrome of Constantinople, is a set of bronze statues of four horses, originally part of a monument depicting a quadriga (a four-horse carriage used for chariot racing). The horses were placed on the facade, on the loggia above the porch, of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, northern Italy after the sack and looting of Constantinople in 1204. They remained there until looted by Napoleon in 1797 but were returned in 1815. The sculptures have been removed from the facade and placed in the interior of St Mark’s for conservation purposes, with replicas in their position on the loggia.
Each negative is swept with an electronic dust collector to ensure all dust is removed from the negative.
All 35mm film is enlarged using my Leica V35 enlarger with a Leitz Wetzlar 40mm Focotar enlarging lens, and a Heiland LED Light Source and probe to analyze the negative’s highlights and shadows for the Ilford Multigrade Fiber paper I use. This first print gets me “into the ballpark” to make the final archival silver print.
All 6×6 (2.25 x 2.25) and 4×5 films are printed using my 1968 5×7 Durst 138s Laborator with an El Nikkor 135mm enlarging lens, and a El Nikkor 150mm enlarging lens, respectively, and a Heiland LED Light Source and probe to analyze the negative’s highlights and shadows.
Depending on the negative and its densities, I will also opt to use a mask system, conceived by my dear friend, Alan Ross, to help bring down highlights and to open shadows.
All 8×10 negatives are contact prints under the Durst 138s Laborator. If an 8×10 negative is enlarged, it is made using my Zone VI 8×10 enlarger with a Zone VI Cold Light Head and a 240mm Schneider enlarging lens. Depending on the negative’s densities, I will incorporate Alan’s mask system.
These three enlargers work beautifully with the Ilford Multigrade Fiber paper. This series of prints will be made with Ilford Multigrade Fiber paper, processed in Ilford developer for two-minutes at 68-degrees, a stop bath of one minute, a fix bath of two minutes,* then washed in an archival washer for ten minutes.** These prints are made from Kodak Tri-X negatives, developed in Kodak D-76, full strength with Crone C added to the stock developer. This C-76 developer produces open shadows and transparent highlights.
Each photograph will be mounted and matted on 100 percent museum rag mat boards. Each will be signed by me accompanied with a USB drive that shows me making your print.
*It has been determined that a fix bath of two minutes is efficient to give each print archival permanence.
**A ten-minute wash in my archival washers guarantees each print archival permanence.
Kenn Bisio/Denver/Orvieto
