Christopher Burkett’s Cibachromes can be purchased from us or from these galleries.
The fine print is much more than a mere reproduction of an image. It is the culmination of the inspiration and vision of the photographer. It is the clearest, most direct and powerful form of the image, and has the ability to move beyond words, ideas and concepts to touch and move the viewer in the most direct and immediate way. In its highest form, the fine print can be a transparent vehicle, boldly communicating with whispers and suggestions of worlds previously unseen and unknown.
No other form of the image can convey as powerfully the subtleties, the presence and the luminosity which can exist in the fine print. The fine print is, in actuality, the culmination of the photographic creative process; each print can legitimately be considered an original work of art.
One of the unique advantages of photography is that multiple prints can be made of the same image, with tremendous creative interpretation possible in the printing process. The form and framework of the image exists at an intermediate stage within the negative (or transparency), but is unrealized and unmanifested until the creation of the fine print.
The fine print is a vital and necessary part of the whole creative photographic process, and is the final step which conveys to the viewer the essence of what was seen and felt at the moment of exposure of the film. With a complete understanding of all the intermediate steps that lead to culmination in the final print, the photographer can work most effectively with the photographic materials at hand, and can best use the whole process in the most creative way.
To master the photographic process, it is necessary to intuitively understand the nature of light and color; and their interactions with film and sensitized materials, from the moment of exposure to the final print. Only by a complete knowledge of the entire process can a person fully utilize the materials for the clearest and most complete artistic expression.
This is why I am the only one who will print any of my own photographs, both now and in the future. You can be assured that each print is carefully and meticulously printed, one at a time, by myself, to the highest standards. When I print, I spend unlimited time on each image, working to fine-tune the image until it reaches a point that is close to perfection, and expresses that which I see and feel.
Only in this way is it possible for the print to have the ability to speak to the viewer of the mysteries around us; those that fill earth and heaven, and make our souls sing with thanksgiving and praise. This is the purpose and goal I pursue endlessly.