Wide Format Imaging

Over the years Steven Katzman has made a name for himself not only through his photographic work, but also through his writing. His latest book: The Face of Forgiveness, Salvation and Redemption, was featured in the New York Magazine Book Review and precipitated a personal interview on CNN. Steven's work is exhibited both nationally and internationally and is included in numerous museum and corporate collections.

From Miniscule To Magnificent The first of Steven's two latest projects is entitled: Obsessed with the Found. Here he gets up-close and personal with the insects at the Florida Department of Agriculture. They allowed him to photograph at the entomology museum, where he had the opportunity to work with a variety of specimens, including a collection from the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. These 60 to 70-year-old specimens were originally from a German collection, which eventually found their way to Florida as a gift from Field.

Steven's unique approach to photographing these historic specimens involves multiple captures—sometimes as many as six to 12 photographs stitched together to create a single image with a native resolution of 250 megs, prior to any post-editing. The end result is an image that not only displays the subtle shades of each specimen's color, but also the different styles of German handwriting that make up the original captions.

Steven Katzman strives to render his subject in the same manner as he discovered it. Utilizing Ansel Adams' Zone System of pre- and post- visualization, he takes into consideration all aspects of the photograph's creation, from initial image capture to final output, including the all-important choice of fine art inkjet paper.

In order to enhance the warm, aged tone of the background material on which the insects were mounted, Steven has chosen Hahnemuhle's Photo Rag Baryta paper available in 60-inch rolls. He likes the fact that this paper has no OBAs, hence a natural color. According to Steven, "the mould base and 100 percent cotton rag content of these papers support the images so they don't just sit on the surface, but become part of the emulsion, creating their own surface tension and depth."