For a long time his shy personality, combined with a profoundly private
conception of his artistic vision, made him eschew the public exhibition
of his work, which was only shown privately. More recently, however,
the success attained by his photographs on the occasion of public
events such as the charity auctions The Art of Photography (London
1999) and Art and Charity (Sotheby's, Montecarlo 2007) persuaded him
to extend his exhibiting activities to other venues. A solo exhibition
devoted to the theme of industrial archaeology and entitled La vita
sospesa delle cose ("The suspended life of things"), organised
by Piccolo Museo Sereno, was held in May 2008 in the prestigious venue
of the Società Umanitaria, in Milan, to public and critical
acclaim. His latest solo exhibition, Metamorphosis (on the transformation
of the textile industry in the Northern-Italian city of Biella, home
to world-known names such as Zegna and Barberis-Canonico) was equally
successful. My
first camera was my grandfather's 1920s Eastman Kodak Landcamera and
as a 10-year-old I had a great time with it. I shoveled snow to buy
film for it! I was very stubborn to try digital, but I eventually did. I now use it when appropriate, and am very happy with the results. It is especially handy when you run out of film or can't find the film for the 6x7. Digitally, I do most post production myself, and with film I have negatives drum-scanned and preserved digitally. I prefer digital printing for most large format projects. I work very closely with my labs in the final printing process and I am interested in experimenting in new techniques and original ways of presenting show prints. As for the color saturation which characterizes my photography, the "old school" way of creating more contrast or saturation was to mount a polarizer etc. on the lens. Now I control contrast, saturation etc. with the computer, to get the best possible result, but always try to match the final prints to the recollection of how the image presented itself the first time I experienced it, and always, if possible, take the time to photograph the subject in the best possible flattering light. The
photographs featured in the "Vita Sospesa delle Cose / The suspended
life of things" are a mixture of film and digital. All prints
are inkjet, mounted on 18 mm mdf board with a unique protective finish
which adds intensity to the final print. |
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Lyle Roblin (c) - Milano - Vancouver - London - Tel 349-6459657 - lyle@lyleroblin.com |