John Sexton
[Photographer, b. 1953, Maywood, California, lives in California.]
The difference between RC-paper and fiber-based paper is the same as the difference between vinyl and leather.
To convey in the print the feeling you experienced when you exposed your film—to walk out of the darkroom and say: “This is it, the equivalent of what I saw and felt!” That’s what it’s all about.
Many photographers are consumed with the idea of making beautiful contact sheets. I am far more interested in making the best final print I can.
A photographer needs to be a good editor of negatives and prints! In fact, most of the prints I make are for my eyes only, and they are no good. I find the single most valuable tool in the darkroom is my trash can—that’s where most of my prints end up.
Pictures you have taken have an influence on those that you are going to make. That’s life!
It is light that reveals, light that obscures, light that communicates. It is light I “listen” to. The light late in the day has a distinct quality, as it fades toward the darkness of evening. After sunset there is a gentle leaving of the light, the air begins to still, and a quiet descends. I see magic in the quiet light of dusk. I feel quiet, yet intense energy in the natural elements of our habitat. A sense of magic prevails. A sense of mystery. It is a time for contemplation, for listening—a time for making photographs.
