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Rangefinder
Magazine Ray Bidegain by Chris Crabb Portland
Platinum photography is the antithesis of digital photography. It is handcrafted. It is lasting. It is beautiful. And in the city of Portland, OR, equipped with little more than a chair, a camera lens and a few precious drops of hand-coated metal salts, Ray Bidegain is using platinum photography to create timeless pieces of art. Labeled a “photographer,” Bidegain is really an artist who creates distinct, individual works of art. His commissioned portraits are one-of-a-kind images made with his own two hands from start to finish. Bidegain has been living and breathing photography for more than two decades. It became clear to him early on that it was important to have a career doing something he loved. His passion has taught him to let down his barriers and open up his artistic sensibilities, allowing him to create penetrating portraits of his clients.
Bidegain realized in high school that he wanted to be a photographer. A job on the yearbook staff led to employment with a chain studio shooting weekend weddings. He received his bachelor’s degree in commercial photography from the Brooks Institute, one of only three photography schools in the nation at the time. He shot commercial photography for a few years, working on catalogs, architecture and interiors. This underscored his belief that a much larger emotional value existed in individual photography.
Bidegain has always focused on the black-and-white medium. The quality is classic—a black-and-white photo tends to reflect the person more than the era. Black and whites also tend to look romantic and sophisticated. And the process is timeless as well. Black-and-white photos last for hundreds of years, color pictures last 30 to 60 years because their dyes fade over time.
“ Platinum photography is more than the click of a lens,” states Bidegain. “It is the physical creation of a work of art that reveals itself in its clarity and detail. It goes beyond the artist’s eye to the artist’s hand, and I am compelled by its beauty.” Platinum printing is actually one of the oldest photographic processes. Like the more commonly used silver-emulsion photography, the platinum printing process produces a black-and-white image; yet platinum is much broader in tonal scale, and literally dozens of delicate, rich tones dance between ebony black and ethereal white. A fine platinum print radiates luminosity and gentle warmth. The deepest shadows present details. Portraits glow and come alive.
The process itself is costly and requires special skills. Bidegain begins by mixing a light-sensitive emulsion containing, among other things, platinum and palladium metals. He then brushes the coating onto a beautiful art paper and allows it to dry. Finally, he exposes the handmade sheet to UV light and processes it. The resulting photograph is warm and rich brown in color, with the texture of the paper showing through.
Ray Bidegain Studio is located at 9225 N. Willamette Blvd., Portland, OR 97203. To see Ray Bidegain’s work visit www.rbstudio.com/. Chris Crabb is a public relations specialist and freelance writer based in Portland. She has been working with Ray Bidegain for a number of years, and is proud to say the walls in her home feature more than a few of his works of art! She can be reached at 503-282-1583 or at crabbsoup@earthlink.net.
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In today’s world of digital imagery and disposable
cameras, traditional photography is a lost art—one replaced by
one-hour photos, inkjet printers and pictures sent across cells with
the push of a button.
“
What I truly love about photography is its intimacy,” he says. “I
am allowed access inside part of people’s lives. These people are
entrusting me to create a piece of artwork for them that will live on
in their lives and in the lives of their future generations.”
Opportunity led Bidegain
to Portland, where he focused on portraiture, an artistic outlet that
served his emotional needs as well. His success
was due to a combination of his relaxed and sensitive demeanor, which
allowed him to pick up on his subject’s feelings and make them
more at ease, and his discovery of a clientele that didn’t want “formula” photos
anymore. “
I was fortunate,” states Bidegain. “I landed at a time when
black-and-white photography was in demand following decades of decline.”
“
The art of black-and-white photography has reached a mass audience, with
black-and-white photographs exhibited on the walls of homes in interior
decorating magazines,” says Bidegain. “Displaying black-and-white
photographs is an affordable way to own original artwork and a personal
way to express yourself and your passions within your own home.” But
as much as he loves the black-and-white medium, Bidegain has discovered
a passion for a more esoteric form of photography. Today, platinum photography
defines Bidegain’s work as an artist. 
Many well-known
early-20th-century photographers worked with platinum photography and
printing, including Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston.
Today, Bidegain is one of only a handful of artists in the country who
specialize in creating commissioned portraits using the platinum medium.
Throughout the course of his career, Bidegain has acquired
an esteemed reputation in the photography trade. Over the course of two
decades,
he has evolved as a photographer to develop a style all his own. And
whether printed in platinum or silver, a portrait by Ray Bidegain is
an image that is immortalized in print, and a handmade work of art that
comes from the artist’s soul.