Alumnus Anthony Accardi recently hosted Tom Drysdale’s Large Format Class at Green Rhino/Brooklyn Printworks, 221 McKibben Street, in Bushwick. Anthony showed samples of the amazing range of non-silver printing techniques he has made available to artists; including large-scale platinum, cyanotype, gum-bichromate and even albumin print options. Using his digital-c printing system to make inter-negatives, Accardi has systematically refined optimal curves for best results with any of these expressive approaches. Speaking with students, he discussed the subtle relationship between aesthetic choices and appropriate materials. With thirty years of experience printing a variety of formats for artists like Matthew Barney, he extolls the virtues of a hybrid approach to image-making, utilizing digital tools as well as traditional, even “obsolete” methodologies. We had a great time and we’d urge anyone with thoughts of special printing methods to contact him.

[Update]: Tom and students have sent over some extra photos from their day in Brooklyn. Click the thumbnails to enlarge.

Photo 1 Caption: Group shot of the Large Format Class in Brooklyn, at Anthony Accardi’s (DPI Class of ’86) Brooklyn Print Works studio, taken with an 8×10 Deardorff, with a 480mm Apo-Ronar lens.

Photo 2 Caption: Spontaneous portrait of Daryl and friend on a custom Harley Davidson, shot with an 8×10 Deardorff and a 300mm Goerz Dagor.( Note that the plane of focus follows the diagonal axis of the bike, using the “swing” feature of the vintage camera.)