Ackacoka

Akcakoca, 2011

by Omar Ozenir

Akcakoca, 2011

During the annual Akcakoca* festival, a long greasy pole is suspended over the sea and youths compete to reach the trophy at the end of it. I took the photo after the festival. The trophy’s gone, but the pole remains and a few youngsters not only continue to enjoy the challenge, but also display their skill for the photographer.

*A small town on the Black Sea coast. Pronounced Akdjakodja.

Some technical details for the curious:
35mm SLR camera. 28mm lens. Ilford Delta100 film, developed in XTOL diluted 1+1.

Negative

Whereas some photographs are sold at incredible prices, the negatives of those photos may not have any value at all. There are some obvious reasons for that. The prices are mostly raised by rich collectors and I doubt that a negative means much to them. Even if it does, there is no point in framing a negative and hanging it on a wall. Producing new prints from those negatives is also not preferred, because what collectors are usually after is the “vintage” print: that original print which has been touched and breathed on by the photographer, and which - with a bit of luck - might even bear traces of molecules of her/him.

I cite John Loengard from the preface to his book, “Celebrating The Negative”: “…Sotheby’s auction house turns down negatives offered for sale. ‘There’s no market for them’, a museum curator told me bluntly. ‘Collecting negatives would be a very esoteric pursuit. It doesn’t exist’.

“When Paul Strand’s negatives were used in printing a book…they were insured for only $150 to $200. The prints Strand had made from them were insured for $150,000 to $200,000. Cornell Capa: ‘I don’t want collectors to collect negatives. They’d destroy the negative so the print they own would be more valuable’.”

On the other hand, a negative is everything for a photographer using black and white film. Even as an object, I find a negative beautiful. I think John Loengard felt similarly when, upon seeing the 8x10 negative of Edward Weston’s famous pepper photograph, he exclaimed, “I saw that light had arranged particles of silver on its surface with such beauty that it took my breath away”.

A small 14x21cm print on RC paper alongside a 20x30cm print on 30x40cm FB Ilford Galerie