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Posted on 19th July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Peter Turnley, Print Offers
Many years ago, a young man from Fort Wayne, Indiana followed his muse to Paris, and stayed for a quarter of a century. Paris became home base for Peter Turnley's worldwide travels as a top-echelon photojournalist. But even at home, he never stopped working—for three decades, Peter has photographed in the streets, bistros, and bars of his adopted city, along the banks of the Seine, from high windows, wherever he found himself. He photographed rooftop vistas, forgotten details, and, always, the people—friends and strangers, the famous and the unknown—people working, playing, traveling. And, everywhere, lovers—keeping company, flirting, kissing, holding hands, walking together, drinking together, laughing.
 A portion of his extensive body of black-and-white work from Paris was published in 2000 in the book Parisians , with forewords by Robert Doisneau and Edouard Boubat. Recently, Peter's been planning a second book from this large body of work.
I'm really hugely pleased to tell you that three of the most famous and most romantic of Peter Turnley's pictures of Paris will comprise TOP's last 2010 Collector Print sale, this coming fall.
The master printer
But that's not even all. Decades ago, when I first learned that Henri Cartier-Bresson didn't print his own photographs, I heard that his prints were made by a master printer living in Paris. When Josef Koudelka began exhibiting and selling prints, the same man was chosen to make the prints. The man was Voja Mitrovic. Apart from being Cartier-Bresson's printer for very close to thirty years and the main printer of Koudelka's work, Voja (the "j" is pronounced like a "y") printed for, among many others, Rene Burri, the Eugene Atget archive, Sebastiao Salgado, Marc Riboud, Edouard Boubat...
...And Peter Turnley. It turns out that Voja is one of Peter's oldest friends in Paris. How they first met is a great story, but I'll let Peter tell that story himself at a later time—in fact, we'll publish a couple of posts about Voja before the print sale starts.
Voja retired in the late 1990s (Peter also has a wonderful picture of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Josef Koudelka begging Voja not to retire, and we'll publish that here too, eventually). The good news for us is that, as a special favor to Peter, Voja Mitrovic has agreed to make the prints for the TOP fall Collector Print sale.
Voja Mitrovic and Peter Turnley
Peter himself is a living link to the great photographers of the city. He's known or befriended a great many of the most famous names in French 20th-century photography. He started out as an assistant to the lyrical Paris photographer Robert Doisneau; he knew Cartier-Bresson, and was great friends with Edouard Boubat. Although his eye is distinctly his own, his work is very consciously part of the grand tradition of the photography of Paris.
The exact pictures we've chosen won't be revealed until the sale starts, and I'll give you all the details at a later date. The important thing to say here, now, is that the pictures represent the very best of Peter's long photographic love affair with Paris. They'll be archival fiber-based black-and-white silver prints in the standard European collector size, signed on the front by Peter and on the reverse by both Voja and Peter.
And in their own way, they'll be every bit as much of a bargain as our past sales have been—not quite as inexpensive in absolute dollars, but still very significantly less expensive than you could buy them for any other way. We're currently planning the posts about Voja for mid-August (and you should look forward to those), and the "Peter Turnley's Paris" print sale will start sometime in the middle third of September, and run for the usual five days. I'll keep you posted, of course.
Mike
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on 16th July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Blog Notes, Print Offers
I want to thank everybody who participated in the recent print sale, Ken Tanaka's "Summer Storm, Chicago." We originally had no intention of running the sale in three parts, but the first 50 prints sold out in a mere six hours, which left a lot of people without even a reasonable opportunity for ordering. In the second sale, we offered 50 more small prints and 10 large ones; the large ones sold out in 22 hours and the second fifty small prints lasted for 28 hours, giving everyone around the world at least a theoretical opportunity to buy one if they wanted to. So the sale was a huge success....
...Not least because of the way Ken and his wife have enthusiastically worked so fast and furiously to fill all the orders. All of the prints from the 7/7 sale have already shipped; many purchasers have already received theirs. The 7/10 orders are being filled now, and Ken will begin printing the large prints next week—he's gotten as far as making the final decision on the packaging for the large prints, after investigating several options.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch house...
It rained utter torrents night before last—we got more than 4 inches in about 14 hours, and areas near us got up to 5 inches—so die Dunkelkammer is full of water again. I spent a grueling three and a half hours yesterday fixing a serious problem with my email connectivity. Or perhaps I should more accurately say, it took me three and a half hours to discover an incredibly quick and simple fix to what appeared to be a serious problem. Anyway, if you ordered a "Summer Storm" large print and you either have not heard from me or for any reason are waiting to hear more from me, please contact me—there's a possibility that some of the emails I've sent recently never got to their destinations, and a smaller but still very real possibility that emails sent to me never arrived.
The next TOP fine print sale—our last of 2010—will be coming in mid-September, and will
not be limited in number. Now that Ken's sale has concluded, I'll be telling you a lot more about the September sale
(who it is, what the work is, prices, etc.) this coming Monday morning. It's
an incredibly cool opportunity on several levels, as I think you'll
agree when you read about it.
 Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1994 by Mikhail Evstafiev
Finally, I'm going to be taking a week off in the last third of July, during which time TOP will be online but not active. Just a short vacation. Although I'm not sure I need it. Truth be told, running TOP is one of those jobs I just feel I don't need time off from—like Freud, or Solzhenitsyn (well...*), both of whom reportedly worked seven days a week. I enjoy it a lot. Still, all work and no play makes Mike a dull boy, and I don't want to start seeing Arbus twins at the end of hotel corridors if you know what I mean.... Mike
*I don't much resemble Freud or Solzhenitsyn in any way, but any excuse to run a cool black-and-white picture.
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
UPDATE on Print Sale Fulfillment from Ken: At this writing all U.S. orders for the 11x14 prints of "Summer Storm, Chicago" have been mailed (with the exception of one order who requested we delay his shipment briefly). By the end of Monday all of the international 11x14 shipments will have been mailed.
As Mike noted, the large prints will be moving out next week. I plan to ship them all by July 23rd. These will ship flat, packed in 20x24 Uline padded sandwich mailers just like the small prints. This is more expensive than using shipping tubes but it delivers a print that is immediately viewable, requiring no un-curling.
Thanks, again, to everyone who participated in this sale.
ADDENDUM: Pete Gerba's portrait of Solzhenitsyn. 
Posted on 10th July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Print Offers
Note: Sale ended 7/11, 3:56 p.m.
"An' a one, an' a two...."
Last Wednesday, we offered for purchase prints of "Summer Storm, Chicago," by Ken Tanaka. The run of 50 prints sold out in six hours and four minutes, and were gone before many readers even knew the sale had started. So, as promised on Thursday, we're now offering 50 (+ 10) more. This sale will start now and continue until noon Central U.S. time Thursday, July 15th, or until all the prints are sold, whichever comes first.
The picture was taken with a Phase One P65+ digital back on a Mamiya camera. Ken has produced an information sheet that will be included with the print that covers technical details, and also tells about the storm.
The regular size prints have an image area of approximately 9.5 x 12.75". The cost for U.S. orders is $155. Orders for international delivery (this includes Canada) cost $175; in both cases, shipping is included in the price. [Ordering information removed]
 Ken (as Kilroy) with the big print (the colors here are not very accurate; see top illustration for a more accurate idea of what the prints look like)
Meanwhile, after getting several requests, Ken has produced a very small run of much larger prints of this image, which he says are "jaw-droppingly good" and "un-[expletive deleted]-believable." (I've not seen one, but I'm getting one.) There are only ten of these. The prints are on 17x22" paper with a image area of 15x20". The cost is $450 for U.S. orders and $475 for international orders, shipping included. Although this is not a limited edition, Ken has agreed never again to sell any print of this picture of this size or larger for a lower price*.
[Ordering information for the large prints removed]
All the prints are inkjet prints made on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk paper using Epson Ultrachrome K3 inks.
Finally, let me again thank Ken for working with me on this, and all of you for your interest and enthusiasm. This has been fun. However, I must say that this will for sure be the last of this print sale! No more after this. Mike
*The same is true for the smaller prints as well.
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on 8th July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Print Offers
 First, my apologies for not announcing in advance the date and time of the "Summer Storm" print sale today.
Second, we are on for a second go-round. Ken Tanaka and TOP will offer 50 more prints starting on Saturday, July 10th, at noon Central U.S. time, and keep the sale open for five days or until the 50 prints are all sold. The prints cost $155 for U.S. delivery and $175 for international delivery. Shipping is included in the price. You can read more detailed information here, and the details will also be repeated when the second sale is announced on Saturday.
Third, please tell everyone you know in Chicago! Mike
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on 7th July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Print Offers
Okay, some folks are mad at me—no, not "mad"—miffed, melancholy, mildly dismayed—because I didn't pre-announce the starting-gate time for Ken's print sale, and the entire run was gone in six hours—hours which unfortunately were encapsulated completely within the workday of many North and South Americans. So some readers missed the sale altogether. Which doesn't even seem...friendly. I just got off the phone with Ken, and he says he honestly didn't expect to sell 50 prints in any amount of time, much less six hours. And the reason he originally picked the number 50? Because the packing material he's using to ship the prints comes in cartons of 50. He bought one.
Anyway....
If people want us to, we can run a "Part II" of the print sale. Ken says he's willing to print and ship another 50. Should we do it again? Say, starting at noon on Saturday, so everyone who wants to be prepared for it will be ready? Let me know. If there are enough people who want us to, we'll do it. Even if we don't sell out the second 50.
As an aside that probably shouldn't be just an aside, thanks to all those who bought a print today! Mike
P.S. Sorry...the price was in the PayPal button, which was taken down when the sale was over. It was $155 for U.S. delivery and $175 for international, shipping included.
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on 7th July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Print Offers
 As promised, here's an opportunity to buy a print of "Summer Storm, Chicago" by Chicago-area photographer Ken Tanaka. The picture was originally posted as a comment to one of our posts, and so many people liked it that I asked Ken if we could offer a print to readers, and he agreed.
The picture was taken with a 35mm ultra-wide-angle lens on a Mamiya 645 AFD III with a PhaseOne P65+ back. It was taken at a slow shutter speed so there is very slight blurring in some of the cars, trees, and fountain, and there is rain falling in part of the landscape; and the print is dark and subtle and will need to be displayed in good lighting. But it's a gorgeous print, rich and dramatic. It's printed by the photographer on 11x14" Ilford Gold Fibre Silk paper (image area approximately 9.5 x 12.75"). It's a 310gsm weight paper, 20% gloss (semi-gloss) with a "traditional" photo paper baryta base. Prints will be signed on the reverse.
Note: The sale is limited to 50 prints (unfortunately, that's all the printing Ken has time for). I'll keep the offer open for five days (until sundown, Sunday, July 11th) or until we reach 50 orders, whichever comes first.
~~~SORRY, SOLD OUT~~~
Shipping is included in the price.
An order via PayPal will automatically reserve a print for you. If you prefer to send a personal check, that's fine, but you will need to send me an email (just one!) with your name, shipping address, and number of prints you're purchasing to reserve your order. (Please, just one email!) If you only mail a check, the 50 print limit might have been reached before your check gets here.
The first orders will be shipped on Friday; last orders should allow up to four weeks for delivery (but probably won't take that long).
With PayPal payments, prints will be shipped to the address in the PayPal order, so please make sure I have the proper address with your order. If it's different than your PayPal address, you can add it in the "comment" field with your payment. Please do not count on emailing me separately with a different shipping address! (Really, you do not want to test my organizational [dis]abilities to that extent, take my word for that....)
We've settled on having four TOP print sales per year. This is the third of four sales for 2010; the last one for the year will be in September. My sincere thanks to Ken for making this possible.
Mike
UPDATE: As of 2:15 p.m. there are 19 prints left. UPDATE #2: Sold out, as of 4:06 p.m.
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on 1st July 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Print Offers
 I'm pleased to report that, due entirely to popular demand, we're going ahead with a small print sale of Ken Tanaka's as-yet untitled shot of the thunderstorm cell over the Chicago shoreline, taken with a Phase One P65+ back. The entire inspiration for this came from the strong reactions from numerous people after Ken posted his shot as a comment to my post "The Night of the Lightning" back on June 23rd.
We haven't locked down all the particulars just yet. Ken worked through six iterations of the print to create the best rendition, and he Fed-Ex'd the proof to me on Tuesday. It looks stunning under good light, subtle and dramatic all at once. (I'm looking at it now.) We have some details to hammer out yet, but Ken and I are both committed, and the sale will probably start soon, sometime shortly after the 4th of July weekend is over and done with.
This sale will be limited to a small number of prints. I'll tell you more as soon as I know*.
Save your money
We are also far along now on our plans for the Fall Collector Print Offer, which is going to be fantastic. I'm still not at liberty to divulge any details, but the photographer is widely known, the master printer who will be making the prints is legendary (truly—we'll have much more about this sometime in August, but for now you can take my word for it), and the subject matter of the pictures has a natural appeal to millions of people all over the world. The offer includes one picture that is world famous, and the other two, from the same body of work, are just as appealing.
The prints (we'll be offering three) will be much more expensive than prints in previous TOP offers, but they will still represent the same kind of value we always go for—an unprecedented bargain, far less than you could get them for any other way. The sale will last for five days and is scheduled for the first half of September. But ample warning—you might want to start putting a little moolah aside, just in case you might want one, or two, or all three. And you really might. I'm just sayin'. Mike
*We are not taking orders in advance, so please don't ask! The sale will not start until the announcement post goes up.
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on 23rd June 2010 by Michael Johnston in Photography
Print Offers
 I'm pleased to announce that after eight weeks of very hard work, Carl Weese has now shipped all of the platinum/palladium print orders—roughly 240 Pt/Pd prints and 90 digital prints in 183 packages. Many of you who ordered will have received your prints by now, and the few who haven't yet will soon. There were inevitably just a few glitches in the orders or payments—and still a slight possibility of lost shipments, although there haven't been any yet—so if you're expecting prints and are still without them at the end of the next week or ten days, please contact Carl. You can also send an email to me and I'll forward it to him.
Carl will be incommunicado for a few days while he takes a well-deserved break. Again, my sincerely thanks to Carl, his wife Tina, and to all of you who purchased prints—I hope you like them!
A job well done, all around. Mike
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by Markus Spring: "I received my print last week and got excited to a degree I really had not expected—the combination of finest details, warm inviting tonality and a wonderful structure of the paper was overwhelming. My thanks go not only to Carl, but also to T.O.P. for preparing the venue for that print offer." 
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