[Leica] Deconstructing Jello

[Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net>]

One day I went to the monthly Photo show openings at my favorite gallery here in
portland and I discovered as it was labeled on every single print that I was not
looking at a simple "photograph," but Gelatin Silver. 
It sounded real pretentious to me. Nowhere did it say that what we were looking
at was a: Photograph.

Ironically on this idea I'm one of those uncool Geeks who always want to know
"how they did it." What's the point of going to a magic show if the magician
isn't going to explain how he did it afterward? I want to know what film they
used, developers, paper the more I know the happier I am. On a separate sheet of
paper on the wall in the corner, not right on the print or next to the print of
course. I don't mind knowing what made the PHOTOGRAPHER decide to shoot that
tree in the first place as that is rather obvious by looking at the tree, the print.

I belive in coming up with a revisionist shorthand for the Gelatin Silver Print.
We should call them........a "PHOTOGRAPH."
And then somewhere there is a list on the wall which explains what a regular
photograph is. How the artist did ALL the prints.
If each print in a show varies a lot, one is Platinum the next is gum bichromate
whatever; then sure; lets find out which ones are regular photographs and which
ones are all kinds of other wonderful and interesting and rare alternate processes.
I'm saying in a regular show of photographs lets not pretend we are looking at
some alternate process when we are not, it's confusing.
The formula for describing an alternate process has more than two components
from what I recall. It is more than the emulsion and the paper. The toning is
also in there too I'm sure. A kind of hidden variable which I didn't have on the
tip of my tongue. 

Which might have been where the marshmallows came from or I was just throwing
them out for fun. Was it 3AM? One more thing. Always something. A marshmallow in
the works....?
As amazingly unappetizingly Gelatin is and sounds (clear being historically a
most unpopular flavour) 
"Jello" is almost the definition of something that is instantly agreeable and
unpretentious. 

George Eastman came up with the random letters to spell out "Kodak" Both have
five letters so we should delve into in great depth 	but not today.
And of course the main point is that you've probably moved on to the next
message by now if all this silly metaphoric stuff is not your personal cup
of....tannic acid diffusion in porcelain utensil.

I think sometimes some of us get a little off the wall and we cut each other
some slack. 
I think my writing is most often not all that bad.
Mark Rabiner