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Rangefinder Magazine
April 2004

Profile: Tony Worobiec and Ray Spence by Stephanie Boozer
Blending Contemporary Fine Art Photography withTraditions of the Past in Their New Book, Photo Art

Tony Worobiec, “Row of Pears.” This print was copper-toned, and then a mixture of Marshall Oils and oil pencils was used to hand-color the pears. Finally, opaque oil paints were applied both below and above.

The debate remains heated between the film and digital imaging camps, as amateur and professional photographers alike scramble to keep up with technological advances without sacrificing the integrity of the image or the artform itself. While there’s no doubt that digital imaging is here to stay, the question remains whether film and the traditional darkroom will survive. But who says one medium has to wheedle out the other?

Two Briton photographers and teachers interested in exploring and conquering the digital divide are Tony Worobiec and Ray Spence. The two recently collaborated on the book Photo Art (Amphoto Books, 2003) in an effort to marry traditional photographic techniques with modern digital applications. They assert that the image itself is more relevant than the method of creation.

The introduction to the book states, “As technology improved, photography became increasingly concerned with accuracy and detail, to such an extent that it was in danger of losing sight of its affinity with this changing role of art.… Our principal aim is to show how easily you can apply different procedures to purposefully explore your own ideas and responses to the visual world.”

Ray Spence, “Arum Lilies.” Using an oblique light and a Mamiya RB67 on a tripod, the film was first exposed with the flowers on a rusty metal plate. Then the flowers were removed, and a second exposure, of the plate only, was made. This flattened the forms slightly and provided some translucency to the flowers, allowing the metal texture to show through.

Divided into two main sections, the book takes photographers step-by-step through a range of creative photographic processes, instructing how to achieve similar results with both digital and darkroom techniques, as well as other, less conventional methods.

“I’m more into making images, whether with film, digital media, or by painting on a surface,” explains Spence, who’s been known to bury prints in the ground for months, letting microorganisms in the soil attack the image for a much more organic visual effect. “This idea that a photograph has to be a specific thing and that you can’t go outside the rules holds a lot of amateurs back. We have to keep open minds.”

Because both photographers have teaching backgrounds, dissecting and explaining the concepts in the book wasn’t too daunting. The book’s two main sections, titled “Exploring the Conventions” and “Extending the Boundaries of Photography,” break down the lessons from basic manipulations to more advanced techniques and concepts. The first section explores more popular, and somewhat traditional, methods of manipulating an image, either in-camera or using Adobe Photoshop. For example, the lesson on infrared photography details the four monochrome films sensitive to the infrared spectrum, explaining exposure and processing basics. Moving from past to present, the book then breaks down the specific Photoshop actions and filters that will produce a similar look.

“I find it quite easy to work in Photoshop and translate what I did in the darkroom into a digital process,” says Spence. “It helps if you really understand the qualities of tonality, and understand how the image will print digitally on different papers. I think the difficulty in digital imaging comes in not knowing how the darkroom works.”

Tony Worobiec, “Avenue of Trees, Picardy.” Here, a sheet of tissue paper was placed directly over the photographic paper during exposure. It is not always desirable for the “filter” to be used for the full duration of the exposure. This print was then strongly toned in thiocarbamide for an old-fashioned feel.	Ray Spence, “Tree.” A combination of a wide angle lens and Kodak infrared film separated the massive branches of this tree from the rest of the forest. Careful exposure retained detail in the tree, allowing the background to fade into the highlights.	Tony Worobiec, “Danny.” This is an example of photomontage where it is a good idea to first sketch the elements, both to determine the correct printing sizes and to achieve the desired perspective. Seen together, the three elements appear far more menacing.

Worobiec’s own darkroom experience gave him a similar outlook. “My own views were that the people who first embraced digital weren’t successful in the darkroom,” he says. “I thought they lost control of the image when indulging in heavy filtering. Having acquired darkroom techniques, I was very reluctant to give them up. However, once I started working digitally, the newness of it made it exciting. Every photographer has to confront the fact that digital isn’t going away.”

The second half of the book deals with more in-depth creative concepts, applying slightly more unconventional methods and media. One section deals with using a flatbed scanner as a camera (something that Spence and Worobiec found so engrossing that it’s the subject of one of their upcoming books). Other sections include overviews on photograms, pinhole photography and mixed media.

Ray Spence, “Lilies.” Creative use of aperture control is one of the most important ways for a photographer to convey an individual vision of a subject. With a subject such as this lily, critical focus throughout the image would have caused too much confusion. By using a wide aperture and careful focusing, the attention has been placed on the flowers, and the leaves have formed a secondary interest. The photograph was taken on a Horseman 4x5 camera at f/5.6 on Polaroid Type 55 film, which produces an instant negative and gives the characteristic edge effect seen here.

“It’s the best book Ray and I have done,” says Worobiec. “We’re exploring the characteristics that make an exciting digital print, and what sets it apart from a traditional darkroom print.”

Though he embraces the continuously evolving technology of the digital imaging world, Worobiec still prefers to capture images on film. However, Worobiec isn’t a purist. He manipulates and prints his images digitally, preferring the flexibility that a keyboard and mouse provide over the more time-consuming techniques of the darkroom.

“I always work in medium format, a sector within the photography world that has been very slow to embrace digital,” says Worobiec. “Bearing in mind that a well-processed film will last forever, I still remain cautious about capturing images digitally. For the moment, I’m going to remain a dinosaur.”

Worobiec initially trained as a painter, but his photo-realist style eventually led him to photography, where he’s been prolific ever since. Before his photography and writing took over as a full-time gig, Worobiec headed the design faculty at a high school in Dorset, teaching the fundamentals of photography and the darkroom.

“One of the real pleasures of teaching is taking students to the darkroom for the first time, and seeing them absolutely transfixed,” says Worobiec.

	Ray Spence, “Nautilus Shell.” In this case, both the background and the shell image were captured by a flatbed scanner, and the resulting scanned images were merged together in Photoshop using Layers and Opacity Control.

As his photography and writing sideline career consumed more and more of his time, Worobiec decided to hit his publishing career full force. He made the transition a little over a year ago and hasn’t looked back.

“I’m enjoying my life immensely,” he says. “I love teaching, but it tends to be one way. Creating your own photography and writing books is a way to really bring yourself into your work.”

His most recent publication of artwork, Ghosts in the Wilderness: Abandoned America (Sterling, 2003), was co-written by his wife Eva and documents the homesteads and communities of eastern Montana, the Dakotas, western Nebraska and the Pawnee Grasslands of Colorado. Worobiec and his wife crossed the pond to visit the Midwestern United States several times over the past seven years to capture the images.

Ray Spence, “Self Portrait 2.” This was the result of several exposures using a slow shutter speed on a Canon T90. Depending upon whether the photographer is moving or stationary, the level of blur is altered. Both full face and profile are shown within the same image.

“I’m not an emotional man, but when the book was delivered, it was a kind of affirmation of what I’ve been doing with passion over the past few years,” says Worobiec. “I was quite overwhelmed.”

As the yin to Worobiec’s yang, Spence devoted himself completely to the digital medium.

“There’s still a myth that digital is easy, but it’s not,” he says. “You can do things on a digital camera that you couldn’t do with film. The ability to do so many things is awesome and has given my photography a new lease on life.”

Spence, who originally earned a degree in microbiology, was introduced to photography by a friend and subsequently pursued it as a hobby. After about 15 years of studying photographic techniques and alternative printing processes, Spence gave up his biology post altogether and began teaching photography. He soon took a post as head of photography at a small college. He currently lectures on photography at the Warwickshire College of Art and Design, and lives in Stratford on Avon. Spence finds his interaction with his students inspiring and notes there is still a tremendous interest in the traditional darkroom techniques, despite the digital revolution.

“The excitement of the darkroom is evident from the students I teach,” he explains. “I think there will always be a place for the craft. A good digital print requires skill and the same sort of apprenticeship as working in the traditional darkroom. I still get satisfaction from printing using alternative techniques such as cyanotypes, but find getting the time difficult.”

Worobiec and Spence have known each other for the past 17 years, but didn’t begin publishing books together until 1998. Both are Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society (fellowship is the highest distinction of the RPS), and were members of a photographic group called Arena. Spence is also a chairman of the Society’s Printing panel and a member of the Visual Arts panel, and both photographers sit on the Distinctions panel.

	Ray Spence, “Portmeirion.” The Welsh village of Portmeirion is full of illusion—a photographer’s paradise. This “statue” is in fact a flat, painted piece of hardboard set in among the trees. A 24mm lens on a Canon A1 has further enhanced the Illusion of scale. Kodak infrared film was used to lighten the foliage that contrasts with the figure.

After coming together to write for the British magazine, also titled Photo Art, the two paired up for their first book on alternative darkroom techniques, Beyond Monochrome (Fountain Press, 1999).

“We’re highly complementary to each other,” says Worobiec, who handles most of the publisher contacts and meetings. “I enjoy working with him immensely.”

The idea for Photo Art (the book) came out of both photographers’ desire to provide a more creative “how-to” that went beyond the unimaginative program manuals and textbooks on the market.

“Every program has a book with it,” says Worobiec. “The problem is the books themselves are so uninspiring, and don’t alert you to what you can achieve. We’re hoping to produce books that inspire. We’re trying to explore the characteristics that make an exciting digital print, and what sets it apart from a traditional darkroom print.”

According to Spence, “Our relationship as a writing team has developed out of mutual respect for each other’s photography. We both like to push the boundaries and discover new ideas and methods of working.”

Regardless of how you arrive at the end result, both photographers agree the process isn’t necessarily what’s important. The ability to create a piece of artwork supercedes the method or media.

“Ray and I are interested in occupying the art of photography,” says Worobiec. “Contemporary photography is completely independent of tradition. One is art and one is simply photography. We both have a passion for photography, and hope to illustrate that you can marry the traditional with the contemporary without alienating anyone.”

Tony Worobiec, “Palm Tree.” This image was photographed late in the evening, illuminated by a nearby street lamp, hence its ghostly, “negativized” appearance.

“Some people hang back from digital photography because of the expense,” says Spence, “but even with a cheap camera you can do a lot. The ability to do so many things is awesome, just do it all 100 percent.”

With the completion of Photo Art and a sequel on the way, Worobiec and Spence are also working on two additional books exploring fine art photography and photographic techniques.

“We just keep coming up with new book ideas,” says Worobiec “and we really enjoy doing it. At the end of the day, you’ve got to remember that it has to be fun as well.”

Photo Art is distributed in the United States by Barnes & Noble, and is also available through online booksellers.

Stephanie Boozer is a freelance writer and fine art photographer living in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a frequent contributor to The Imaging Resource website and Professional Photographer magazine.