To Purchase Prints

 

   

Please Note

                                     

The flatbed scans do not generally do justice to my original photographs. I am in no way an expert in the art of scanning existing photographs.  I have done each scan individually on either an Umax Astra 1200S or an Epson Perfection 1650 by myself utilizing the best skills I have in this area but I am aware that the results do not always compare favorably to the actual appearance of the original photograph.  In a number of my photographs through the years I have utilized techniques involving diffusion, overexposure, underexposure, overdevelopment, and underdevelopment to impart a certain "look" I sought for that particular image. The resulting photographs do not always scan faithfully for me I have learned as I produced this website. Furthermore, and quite importantly, I have intentionally used a lot of compression to keep the image file sizes small and have also saved them at low quality to try to offset excessive bandwidth usage. Significantly, I also have no desire in finding high resolution images of my work strewn all across cyberspace by unscrupulous visitors to this site. In doing so, I have, regrettably, frequently lost tonality as the contrast range of  an image got compressed. Therefore, a majority of the images on my website do not faithfully display all of the gradations that are present in a particular print. This is especially evident in the lighter values on the grayscale which due to extreme image compression made the lighter values go completely white rather than some shades of gray. You can be assured that my actual photographs are of professional caliber and represent the image as I want it depicted in print form.  I have been selling my work to collectors since 1976.  My nudes were published in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in national print publications such as Popular Photography, Petersen's Photographic, Collectors Photography, Photographer's Forum, Libido, Paramour.

The © (copyright) symbol with my name does not appear on the image portion of any of my original  photographs. I have utilized them here to remind people that my work is copyrighted and may not be used, reproduced, or altered without my written permission. Moreover, the purchase of one of my photographs does not transfer copyright or assign any rights to reproduction or commercial use of the image.  It is for your personal ownership only as a work of hand-printed original art.

Each handcolored print is absolutely unique. I may sometimes slightly vary the color scheme/palette of the print that I first scanned for this website.  This is an artist's prerogative.  But seldom do I intentionally deviate significantly from a color scheme I used on the print that I scanned for this website. I will inform if there is a major discrepancy in a handcolored print I am selling if I know it differs significantly from the image that appears on this website. I approach my handcolored imagery from the role of an artist and do not usually seek verisimilitude in the colors I choose. It is an impression of color that I am usually wanting to impart to the image, not a faithful rendering of the actual colors that were present. That is left to color film photography, I maintain. Also, at times my application of the color to the surface of a print is more
impressionistic than true in conforming to the contours or borders of the objects. I am often seeking to
remove the image at least one step away from the commonly perceived "reality" of a photograph.

Some of the prints I used for making the scans for this website were vintage prints. A vintage print is one that is made around the time that the original negative was created. I did this because I lacked the time to
make another print from that particular negative. Just producing this current version of my website with over 800 images has taken me several years to do alone. I keep my vintage prints to use as a guide (and often inspiration) when I need to produce "modern" prints from a particular negative. What is frustrating is that with the unpopularity of traditional wet darkroom processes many of the photographic papers and some of the chemicals and toners have vanished through the years. With the currently available materials
it is not always possible to match an exact "look" to some of my images if they are being compared to
a print version I made twenty or thirty years ago using different darkroom materials then. This is
regrettably the state of the traditional photography world with the so-called improvement and
technological advancement in image creation. Admittedly, occasionally I will like the look of one of my modern prints versus its vintage version, but there are many times I want to replicate the look I once
achieved with a negative and a certain combination of paper and chemicals that I frustratingly cannot
despite numerous attempts. So I need to state that sometimes there might be a variation in the look of a
modern print if it is being compared to the digital scan of a vintage print. But if I am selling that version
with either my name signed to it or my studio seal blind stamped on it then it has met my approval as
a verified acceptable image.    

My original silver gelatin photographs (black-and-white) are available from me as signed prints on fiber- base paper, and additionally, sometimes, as unsigned prints on resin-coated paper. These photographs are toned using either selenium, sepia, brown, blue toners or a combination thereof.  The other signed version of my photography that I offer is handcolored photographs. 

 

Additional Statement:

Although every one of my photographs is dust spotted by hand when necessary and is inspected by me for approval before offering it for sale, I have learned  things about scanning that I did not know when I  constructed the first version of this website in 1998.  I have learned that the process of scanning a photograph can produce artifacts that are not on the actual photograph or are not visible to the naked eye.  I am still unclear as to exactly how the artifacts originate since the photograph is clean and the glass of the scanner is vacuumed or wiped clean of any visible dust I can see.  Yet many times when I open and view the created digital file from the scan I can see some dust or lint.  To maintain the presentation integrity of my work I have conceded to the use of Adobe Photoshop to remove most or all of these unwarranted specks after scanning.  This has nothing to do with my actual photographs since they are created from the original negative in my darkroom.  As with other computer functions, I have only rudimentary skills in this area but I did subject every image file on this website to an inspection using Photoshop and then individually made corrections to remove any unwarranted artifacts I saw.  Admittedly, this was a time-consuming endeavor which was maddening because I know my actual photographs are of professional artistic caliber but I felt a necessity to make the Web presentation of digital files as free of unwelcome
artifacts as the actual photographic prints I sell. 

 

Signed Prints

                                               

My signed prints are archivally processed on fiber-base paper, toned, mounted on an 11x14 inch (27.9 x 35.6 cm)  4-ply white rag board and overmatted with an 11x14 inch (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 4-ply white rag board window mat.  The recto of the window mat is signed by me in pencil.  On the verso of the mat board is handwritten in pencil the print's title and ID number, the year that the negative and print were produced, a copyright date, and a second signature. (Please note that presently most of my photography for sale will have a print date later than the negative date.  I have only a very small amount of vintage work, especially from the 1970s and 1980s and none of that is currently for sale). Image size varies slightly from negative to negative but it is approximately 6x9 inches (15.24 x 22.86 cm).  All of the print processing, toning, mounting, and matting is done solely by myself.  There is no automation or mechanical process.  All of the film negatives are also processed solely by myself.  

To help make my work affordable I have chosen at this time to "standardize" the size being offered for sale.  By doing this I can stock one size of rag board and one size of fiber-base paper.  I am printing on 8x10 inch (20.3 x 25.4 cm) paper which I later trim before mounting the processed image.  I do have to stock more than one type of printing paper, however, as I use several different manufacturers' brands and surfaces/grades. The finished photograph fits a standard 11x14 inch (27.9 x 35.6 cm) frame.  On the web I only sell my work unframed.  To view a few examples of the signed prints please click here.

 

Unsigned Prints

                                                         

My unsigned prints are archivally processed on 8x10 inch (20.3  x 25.4 cm) resin-coated paper individually by me in my darkroom.  The image size varies slightly from negative to negative but it is approximately 6x9 inches (15.24 x 22.86 cm).  The white border around the image is created on the paper itself by the use of my four blade Saunders-Omega print easel at the time of the image exposure at the enlarger.  Resin-coated paper became widely available in the 1970s - actually around the time I was first becoming involved in photography and darkroom work.  I have used it extensively for nearly forty years.  It is good paper with a variety of manufacturers producing it.  I use it for all of my contact sheets, I  use it in my commercial and commissioned photography work, I use it when giving prints to my models, and I use it for my display albums and portfolios.  In the past I resisted using it in the selling of my fine art original photographs because it went against the long tradition of the usage of fiber-base photographic paper.  The photographic art world of museums, galleries, curators, and upper echelon collectors all seem to be of one unanimous voice in the preference for fiber-base photographs.  I understand, but I also began listening to the people who contacted me after I launched my website in 1998. They liked my photography but were not able to afford the fiber-base signed prints which were all that I initially offered.  Before the website, I had heard similar things occasionally when in galleries that represented me. My response is to now offer a restricted selection of my images in a lower priced unsigned version.  I use various paper brands and surfaces depending on a particular image and what is available from manufacturers. All of these prints are either selenium toned or sepia toned. The recto of the print has my embossed personal seal. A small portion of the seal generally hits a small portion of the image in one of the four corners; this is intentional. The verso has the print's ID number handwritten in pencil. There is a small ink-stamped copyright notice at the bottom edge (it does not bleed through to appear anywhere near the image on the other side). 

These 8x10 inch size prints are not dry mounted or overmatted; nor are they trimmed.  Oftentimes, one or more corners will be slightly bent or pushed in from the processing sequence in the trays of chemicals or later in the washing cycle. And sometimes there can be a slight separation of the paper layers at the four corners as a result of being in the chemicals and water.  All of this is generally minor and affects perhaps 1/16" or 1/8" of a corner or corners.  The corners are always part of the surrounding white borders so no part of the image is ever remotely affected.  The same effect often happens with printing on fiber-base papers but since I trim those prints and dry mount them with an overmat the effect is never seen or known.  I mention this because I do not wish a future complaint based on something that is completely common and acceptable when using resin coated photographic paper.  In that same vein there may occasionally be a small mark or smudge on the white back of a print.  If it does occur it is from being placed in the easel or acquired somehow during processing.  It may even be a paper manufacturing defect.  In no way does it affect the image.  I destroy any print that does not meet my standards.  If I am selling a print which has my embossed seal on it then it has passed my inspection and is one that I feel is qualified to leave my hands as an original print.

I cannot offer my entire oeuvre in the 8 x 10 inch resin-coated paper format, but there are numerous images available for sale utilizing this paper. In the future I may make more images available as unsigned versions. An asterisk (*) appears next to the print title for those images that are available in both unsigned and signed versions.  None of the handcolored images are available in an unsigned version. To view a few examples of the actual unsigned prints please click here.

 

Prices

                         


 

The 11x14 inch signed black-and-white prints are $345.00 (US dollars) each.

 

The 11x14 inch signed handcolored prints are $475.00 (US dollars) each.

 

The 8x10 inch unsigned prints are $60.00 (US dollars) each.

 

State of Georgia residents must add 7% to the above prices.

 

Over the years, initially during receptions in art galleries, I have entered into discussions with various people who inquire about the pricing of art photography, specifically mine.  I never seem to have enough time to properly address the questions when speaking in person. Since I now have this venue to reach people I have decided to write down in some detail what is involved in the photography I create.  If you are interested in this information, please click here.

 

Shipping

                         

Shipping is included in my prices to any location in the United States.  For orders outside of the United States please inquire about an extra rate to be applied for shipping.

 

How to Order

                                           

Please do not send money before first contacting me to check on a print's availability.  Since all of my work is hand-printed I often do not have every print on this site in inventory.  Or an existing print may be in an art gallery (real world) or has recently been sold and I have yet to return to the darkroom to produce a new print.  I do not wish to have anybody wait an inordinate amount of time for a print if they have sent payment.  Therefore I ask you to please contact me first telling me what you wish to purchase.  I will then respond telling you the estimated time frame for filling your order.  Sometimes the print will be immediately available and the only wait you will incur will be the time for your payment to clear my bank. If I have to make a new print it may take a week or more for me to do so, depending on my schedule. As I have stated, this is not mass-produced art.  You are dealing directly with the creator of the work, and all of that work is created by hand by just one person. 

Below each of the enlarged views of an image there is a title and below the title there is a letter/number identifying code.  Please refer to that code and the title when inquiring and ordering.  And please be certain to include your e-mail, telephone number, and postal mailing address so I can reply to you.  To hold down costs and paperwork, I only accept checks, cashier's checks or money orders payable in US dollars.

 

Guarantee

                                 

You must be satisfied with the print(s) you receive from me or I will refund the purchase price in full to you.  My signed photographs are enclosed in a removable mylar sleeve when I ship them. The unsigned photographs are in a removable polypropylene sleeve.  To obtain a refund the photograph must not have been removed from either sleeve which is taped closed by me before shipping, and I must be notified within 10 days of receipt that you are not satisfied with the print and wish to receive a refund.  It is your responsibility to mail the print securely packaged back to me.  Insurance is highly recommended for any return.  Upon receiving the print in the same condition that I sent it out I will issue a refund check to you.   I take pride in my work and believe I am offering original photography at a very reasonable price, but I want everyone who purchases my work via the Internet to feel protected if for any reason  he/she is not pleased.  I have been selling my photography since 1975 to the public.  I have been at my current street location since 1980. I am not a fly-by-night artist. Since the inception of this website in 1998 I have made numerous sales to collectors both domestically and internationally. You can purchase from me with the assurance that your transaction will be to your satisfaction.

 

You can e-mail me:

 

jack@jackwegener.com

 

 

Or you can write to me:

 

Jack Wegener

1115 Skidaway Road

Savannah, GA 31404-2321

USA

 

   
         

 

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