Reviews

Summary:

In this film, Fred Picker gives us comprehensive insight to his photographic prints from his four previous films on FotoTV; “photographing the wall, photographing the fence, photographing the sculptures, and photographing the river”. All four films and the corresponding prints are meticulously evaluated, along with tips and helpful commentary from Picker. He discusses each print and how he treated it and therefore, why he chose it.

His valuable technical information regarding tonal value, composition, cropping, development time, shapes and forms, aperture and all other relevant terms in his photography and printing are wonderfully reviewed. Picker wraps up this series beautifully with the necessary information not only regarding photography itself, but the mastery of photographic printing.

This film brings a harmonious closure to an exciting and unique film series courtesy of Calumet Photographic Inc. USA. Internationally celebrated photographer, Fred Picker will be long remembered for his photographic work.

Picker’s wide, sweeping wilderness landscapes and intimate studies of natural forms have been held up alongside the work of Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and Edward Weston. Picker was involved in the manufacture of 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 large format field cameras. And his filters, camera designs, tripods and other photographic aids are still considered indispensable tools of the trade by photographers.

He taught a highly successful photography class known as "The Zone VI Workshop," and authored a book by the same name that has become recognized as the golden standard of photographic instruction. His uncanny sense of "photographer's intuition” and his passion for the art was a unique combination. Always opinionated and oft times controversial, his dedication to large format photography was unsurpassed.

Many called Picker’s straightforward approach to the relationship between the "scene" and the final print, pure genius. But Picker himself had a more grounded approach to encouraging his students and other photographers. Picker will always be known for saying, "If you want to know what happens with this or that, don't ask me ... test it." That phrase was simple, but it made perfect sense to the many who have followed his wise advice. With a love for the photographic art form, his contributions to photography as an educator, equipment designer/manufacturer, writer and artist, Picker was a true Pioneer that improved the field of photography.

Picker once wrote, on the occasion of Ansel Adams’s passing away, to "lift a glass to him, he would appreciate that". That’s Picker: always thoughtful, always caring. Fred Picker, 1927 - 2002 *Special thanks to Calumet Photographic USA for making this film available to FotoTV