Michael Kahn's
Mariner Newsletter
Winter 2009 / 2010

...the charmed ocean's pausing, the waves lie still and gleaming,
and the lull'd winds seem dreaming.

 ~ For Music by Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)

Hello There:
It has been a long time since our last newsletter, and a lot of things have been happening around here that we would like to share with you. First of all, and probably the most exciting, is that Michael has been asked to exhibit at the Cambridge Art Gallery in California. Amanda Shore, the owner of Cambridge Art Gallery, invited Michael to show his photographs at her gallery. It sounds great, but it turned out that Amanda wanted a 4-foot by 4-foot handmade photograph, in very small editions. To Michael, this sounded like an incredible opportunity, but the reality of producing a 4-foot square photograph proved to be a daunting task. The physical size limitation of Michael's darkroom alone was a major obstacle, and remodeling the darkroom was not an option at this point. Rather than gutting the office, we turned to the wonders of the internet to find better avenues. It took several weeks of research looking for a lab that could reproduce large black and white photographs from Michael's original negatives, while maintaining archival standards and Michael's unique sepia toned style. With luck, we came across Hank's Photo Lab in Mount Vernon, New York. And after a lengthy conversation with owner, Steve Rifkin, Michael felt that he might have found a lab that would be capable of reproducing his photographs, to his high standards. With negatives and match prints in hand, Michael got on a train and headed to New Rochelle to spend an afternoon with Steve touring "the most amazing photographic print laboratory" that Michael has ever seen.

Horizontal Enlarger

Hank's Photo is a totally custom lab with vertical and horizontal enlargers the size of Volkswagens, computer controlled temperature and agitation monitors, temperature contolled climate, and a dry-mount press bigger than the office here at Michael Kahn's. Steve Rifkin has built his career specializing in making large black and white photographs and the list of rockstar-photographers he prints for is staggering. By the end of the tour, Michael agreed to leave the negative of Wild Rose and his recipes for making his photographs, and the match print, with Steve to see if he could pull off a 4-foot square print. A month went by when Steve sent the proofs down to us in a crate. With anticipation we opened the crate, to find one of the lovliest photographs we have ever seen!

Finishing Room  Hank's Photo staff hanging Michael's photographs to dry

Not only was it gorgeous, it was huge! Wild Rose, Bow of the Idem, and Over the Dunes have now been printed as 48" x 48" handmade, silver gelatin photographic prints.

Wild Rose Bow of the Idem    Over the Dunes

The new series of photographs are printed, toned by hand, and framed to museum standards. They are printed on fiber-based, silver gelatin photographic paper, signed and numbered by Michael and are in limited editions of 10. We sincerely hope that you have a chance to view them at one of his upcoming exhibitions.
Please call or write for pricing information.

Michael heartily thanks his collectors, gallery owners, printers and framers that have helped bring him to this point in his career.

The Big, The Bold, The Beautiful:

48" x 48" Silver Gelatin Handmade Photograph of Wild Rose

Cambridge Art Gallery's desire for large handmade photographs rides on an already noticeable demand for large prints. In the last year we have placed "big photos" in homes and collections in several locations such as Dubai, London, Boston, and Taipei, just to name a few.

50" x 50" of South Beach

These have been the limited edition digital prints. The digital reproduction photographs continue to be the finest reproductions available in the country and are printed by Brilliant Studio in Exton, PA. We expect these prints to be the best option for most collectors, but now Michael can meet the demand for the collectors that wish for the rarest large handmade photographs, these are truly the finest examples of Michael's work.

37" x 48" of The Brandywine 40" x 40" of Pathway to the Beach

Michael would like to Welcome
Cambridge Art Gallery:
We've been talking about Cambridge Art Gallery quite a bit so far and thought you would like some information on the gallery. Cambridge Art Gallery specializes in classic and contemporary works of art that are not only unique, but set an incomparable standard in the art-world. Cambridge invited Michael to exhibit at the gallery, and he took the opportunity to place the new series of three oversized, 48-inch, limited edition handmade photographs in the gallery. Michael is excited to be exhibiting in Cambridge and is looking forward to a long and enthusiastic relationship.

Focus Gallery:

Interior photograph of Focus Gallery

Michael has also had the great pleasure of being invited to join the Focus Gallery in Cohasset Massachusetts. Focus Gallery is owned and operated by award winning photographer Cindy Vallino. Cindy has included Michael in her already impressive collection of artists, which includes Alison Shaw and Onne van der Wall; in addition to being great photographers Onne and Alison are also Michael's good friends.

He is tremendously pleased to be exhibiting in Focus Gallery's portfolio of artists. Focus Gallery is located at 15 Depot Court Road, Cohasset, Ma 02025, 781-383-0663, please stop by when you are in the area.

Williams & Sonoma Home, Ikea and Helma:
Michael has been invited by the multi-national home furnishing retailer Ikea to publish a series of seascape images. The series titled Breaking Waves is a triplet of wave images reproduced as 9" x 9" posters.

Also, new this year is the publication of two of Michael's images with Williams Sonoma Home. Velsheda and Cambria on the Solent are offered exclusively through Williams Sonoma Home as custom giclees in 21" x 21" prints.

Velsheda Cambria on the Solent

Once again Michael's images have been collected in a 2010 calendar produced by Prague based publisher, Helma. The 2010 calendar includes some of Michael's most elegant seascape images. This oversized wall calendar will bring the wonder of the ocean to you year round.

Speaking Engagements: Michael is going on tour! He is hitting the road, or maybe the water - one can never be too sure some days. He will be speaking about the photographs, the boats and their histories, and his photographic techniques and challenges. There will be lots of visuals, including video. For his presentation schedule please check in periodically to the Press Release page. Or to schedule a lecture please contact us. We hope to see you!

Michael, rowing shell Lilly and RIB Crush

NCIS Fan?
Okay, so it is rather obvious that we have a keen eye for spotting Michael Kahn's images in the background of movies, commercials, and television shows. It's a good thing some of us around here are committed couch-potatoes. Anyway, we have a new one for you... For those fans of NCIS, we have spotted one of Michael's images, Heading for the Finish, in the background of one of the sets. The above images are from the NCIS episode Broken Bird from season 7 airing on CBS. If you happen to catch the show, take a look at the art and calendars in Special Agent Gibbs' basement, see if you can spot the Michael Kahn!

Until next time friends...take care this holiday season! Peace and Joy to all.