Beth Moon
“With platinum printing, noted for its beautiful luminosity and wide tonal scale, the absence of a binder layer allows very fine crystals of platinum to be embedded into the paper giving it a 3 dimensional appearance. Unrivaled by any other printing process, platinum, like gold, is a stable metal. A print can last for thousands of years.
This process gives tones that range from cool blacks, neutral grays, to rich sepia browns. Paper choice is key, I use Arches Platine, a 100% cotton, water color paper with natural deckle edges that has been made by the same mill in France since 1492.
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Contact printing means you need a negative the size of the image. Printing methods from the 19th century teamed with technology from the 21st makes the best of both worlds. Once a negative is scanned into a computer it can then be enlarged and output as a high resolution negative printed on transparency material.
The paper is first humidified in a humidifying chamber. This is a covered box with a suspended plastic grate that the paper lies on, above a bath of water. A sensitized solution of platinum and palladium metals are then hand brushed onto the humidified paper and left to dry in a light free box. It is then put into a vacuum frame which keeps the paper and negative tightly pressed together and exposed under a UV light source. Developer is then poured over the paper as the image appears. The print then goes through 3 successive clearing baths and a final archival clearing wash. It is then left on a glass plate to dry.
In a market that places a high premium on archival work, the struggle increases to balance art, commerce and technique. Crossing the line from machine made to handmade does necessitate a commitment, and true, the work is labor intensive, but the finished results ensure a satisfaction that comes with the freedom to define many decisions while working with materials that allow you to be true to your vision. And in the end, what unfolds before your eyes is more of an ‘art-object’ than an ordinary photograph.
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Video Interviews
Artist Information
San Francisco Bay Area artist, Beth Moon, has gained international recognition for her large-scale, richly toned platinumprints. Since 1999, Moon’s work has appeared in more than sixty solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Italy, England, France, Israel, Brazil, Dubai, Singapore, and Canada. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, and the Fox Talbot Museum in Wiltshire, England. In 2013, Between Earth and Sky, the first monograph of her work, was published by Charta Art Books of Milan. In 2014, Abbeville Press published, Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time, with a third book to follow that same year from Galerie Vevais, La Lange Verte. Moon studied fine art at the University of Wisconsin before moving to England where she experimented with alternative photographic processes and learned to make platinumprints.
Artist Website: bethmoon.com/
Residence: Novato, California
Born: Neenah, Wiscconsin
Selected Exhibitions
2018 Ancient Trees, Ancient Skies, The Citadelle Art Foundation and Museum, Texas
2018 The World to Come, The Harm Museum of Art, Florida
2018 The World to Come, Michigan Museum of Art, Michigan
2018 Between Earth and Sky, PH Neutro Fine Art Fotographia, Sienna, Italy
2018 Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time, The Rain Forest Festival, Malasia
2018 Cosmos, Photo Eye, Gallery, Santa Fe
2018 Infinite Grace, The Waterfall Gallery, New York
2018 Best of “Noir Et Blanc” a Paris, La Galeria Blin Plus Blin, Paris
2017 Arboria, I Monumenti Vegetali Di Beth Moon E Federica Galli, Muse Museo Delle Scienze Di Trento, Italy
2017 Diamond Nights- Thy Kingdom Come, L’Ariete Arte Contemporanea, Bologna, Italy
2017 Summer Selections, Corden Potts, San Francisco
2017 PHOTO ISRAEL, Israel Photography Festival 2017, Midtown, Tel-Aviv, Vision Neil Folberg Gallery, Jerusalem
2016 From Liberty to Freedom, PH Neutro Fotographia, Italy
2016 Wisdom and Nature, The Le Ceil Foudation
2016 Diamond Nights, Verve Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe
2016 Diamond Nights, Corden Potts, San Francisco, CA
2016 Lovely as a Tree, Lousiana Art and Science
2016 Bridging Earth and Sky, The Ceter for Photographic Arts, CA
2015 Beth Moon & Lois Anvidalfare, Zott’s Artspace, Italy
2015 The Savage Garden, Corden Potts, San Francisco, CA
2015 Beth Moon – Ancient Trees, George Town Festival, Malasia
2015 Selected Works, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver
2015 Odin’s Cove, Verve Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe
2014 Diamond Nights, Zott’s Artspace, Singapore
2014 Diamond Nights, PH Neutro Fotographia, Italy
2014 Diamond Nights, Corden Potts, San Francisco, CA
2014 Beth Moon, Between Earth and Sky, L’Ariete Arte Contemporanea, Bologna, Italy
2013 Dall Argento Al Palladio, PH Neutro Fotographia Fine Art, Pietrasanta, Italy
2013 Figures Studied, Verve Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe
2013 Beth Moon, Selected Works, PH Neutro Fotographia, Italy
2013 Nestled in Nature, The Empty Quarter, Dubai
2012 Garden-Trees, Flowers, Landscape, Orticola di Lombardia, Villa Reale, Milano, Italy
2012 Bridging Earth and Sky, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Vermont
2012 Augurs and Soothsayers, Corden Potts, San Francisco, CA
2012 Bridging Earth and Sky, Vision Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel
2012 Odin’s Cove, Corden Potts, San Francisco, CA
2012 Human- Nature, Verve Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe
2011 Beth Moon, Selected Works 1999-2011, PH Neutro, Verona, Italy
2011 Magical Realism, The Houston Center for Photography, Texas
2010 Exposed: Today’s Photography, San Jose Institude of Contemporary Art, California
2010 Beth Moon, Selected Works, Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography, Ohio
2010 Augurs and Soothsavers and Island of Dragon’s Blood, Gallery 291, San Francisco, CA
2009 Beth Moon Platinum Prints, University of San Francisco, CA
2009 Reverie and Phapsody, Verve Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe
2009 Fiori Wave Gallery, Brescia, Italy
2008 The Savage Garden, Gallery 291, San Francisco
2008 Small, Modern Book Gallery, Palo Alto, California
2008 Thy Kingdom Come, Gallery 291, San Fracisco
2007 Best of Arles Foto Folio France, Farmani Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Flora and Fauna, Flatfile Gallery, Chicago
2007 Among Trees, Aperture F64, Sa Anselmo, California
2006 Noble Processes in a Digital Age, The John Stevenson Gallery, New York
2006 Portraits of Time, The Bolinas Museum, California
2005 New Photography, SFMOMA Artist Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Intimate Floral, Center for Fine Art Photography, Colorado
2004 The Earth, Flatfile, Chicago
2004 High and Dry, Cultural Center of Texas
2001 Touch Wood, The Blue Gallery, London, UK
2000 Beth Moon Portfolio, Flatfile, Chicago
Awards
2011 Curators Choice, Canton Lumunaries
2009 World Wide Photography Gala Award
2007 Favorite Portfolio – Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
2004 Golden Light Award – Top Photographer
2004 Special Merit Award, Northern National
Museum Collections
The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston
The Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego
Louisiana Art & Science Museum
The Fox Talbot Museum, United Kingdom
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano, Italy
Books
La Langue Verte, Galerie Vevais Press, Germany, January 2015
Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time, Abbeville Press, September 2014
Between Earth and Sky, Charta Art Books, September 2013
Press
2015 Plethora Magazine (Copenhagen) cover, article and photos
2015 Malibu Magazine, interview with photos
2015 Radio New Zealand, 20 minute live interview
2015 The Smithsonian, interview with 10 photos
2015 Geo (Germany) article with 6 photos
2015 The Huff Post Arts and Culture, article with 12 photos
2015 Wired Magazine, Diamond Nights, interview with 10 photos
2015 The Independent (UK), article with 6 photos
2015 Berenberg (Germany) article with 6 photos
2015 Focus (Holland) interview with 6 photos
2014 The New York Times International, article with 2 photos
2014 The Wall Street Journal, interview with 3 photos
2014 The San Francisco Chronicle, article with photo
2014 The Chicago Tribune, article with 3 photos
2014 The Guardian (U.K.), article with 9 photos
2014 Wired Magazine, Ancient Trees, interview with 12 photos
2014 Slate Fr.(France) article with 10 photos
2014 The Huffington Post, article with 11 photos
2014 Orion Magazine,(U. S.) Odin’s Cove, cover with article
2014 SCHWARZWEISS (Germany), The Savage Garden, 8 page spread with interview
2014 Semanal (Spain) article with 6 photos
2014 Modern Weekly (China) article with photos
2013 Monthly Photo, (Korea) 8 page spread, 12 photos with interview
2013 Civilization Magazine (China), 10 page spread, 10 photos with interview
2013 Shots, (U. S.) cover with photo
2013 Mangazine (China), 5 photos with article
2012 Black and White Photography (UK), 60 Second Exposure, 4 photos, interview
2012 Bazaar Art (China), 12 page spread, 18 photos with interview
2012 LensWork, (U. S.) Odin’s Cove, 12 photos with interview
2012 Orion Magazine, (U. S.) Island of the Dragon’s Blood, article with 5 photos
2011 Rangefinder, (U. S.) The Artistic Vision of Beth Moon, interview, 11 photos
2011 The View Project (U. S.) book compiled by Joyce Tenneson
2011 Why Photographs Work, (U. S.) edited by George Barr, Rockynook Press
2010 LensWork, (U. S.) Augurs and Soothsayers, interview with 14 photos
2010 Blow (Ireland), Thy Kingdom Come, 4 photos
2010 Rosebud, (U. S.) Portraits of Time, article with 6 photos
2010 Black and White Photography (UK), 3 photos, article
2010 Digitalis Foto (Hungary) cover, article with 8 photos
2009 Paseo Tiempo, (U. S.) article, interview, 3 images
2009 LensWork, (U. S.) The Savage Garden, cover, 14 photos with interview
2009 Zoom International (Italy), 6 page spread with interview
2009 Fotoritum (Turkey),cover, 12 photos with article
2008 Shots, (U. S.) The Savage Garden, 8 page spread, interview
2008 Black and White (U.S.) September, Spotlight, 8 page spread
2008 Shots, (U. S.) Issue 101
2008 Camera Arts, cover, (U. S.) Thy Kingdom Come portfolio
2007 LensWork, (U. S.) Portraits of Time portfolio,14 photos with interview
2007 Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (UK), Article, A Noble Process
2007 Silvershotz (International), Where Art Embraces Photography – 12 page spread
2007 F2 Freelance Photographer (UK)
2007 Professional Photographer, (UK) Getting Along Fine, interview
2006 The New York Sun, (U. S.) Noble Processes in a Digital Age
2005 Art Education (U. S.), Art of the Narrative: Interpreting Visual Stories
2002 Art Week (U. S.), Preview of Evocations
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