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| © Patrick McMullan |
| Pascal Dangin |
Pascal Dangin
Founder of Box Studios and co-publisher of the Steidldangin imprint
On List Because: He's the most skilled digital retoucher in the world
Secret of His Success: His ability to express himself through a computer
Quote: "I grew increasingly concerned with the careful art of translating the walls of an exhibition into the pages of a book in a way that would give the viewer a closer look at the images and a greater understanding of them."
The new imprint Steidldangin represents the pinnacle in photo book production, pairing printer extraordinaire Gerhard Steidl with master digital retoucher Pascal Dangin. Since 1996 the photo world has known Steidl for his meticulous standards of book manufacturing and his passion for risk-taking photographic artists. Despite a rash of articles about Dangin in 2003 (and his appearance in our Top 100 list last year), however, this part of the duo still remains a well-kept industry secret. "I never want to talk about my work, because it's kind of taboo," he told the New York Times. "The people who benefit from my work do not benefit from me talking about it."
For more than two decades, French-born Dangin has been perfecting the digital files of many of the world's best-known shooters, such as Annie Leibovitz, Inez van Lamsweerde, and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. They turn to him because of his legendary ability to ameliorate on-site conditions in postproduction. Or his imaginative use of technology to produce a look that couldn't have been made in camera. Or his expertise in stitching into one image subjects that had been separated in space. "He has introduced a new brand of photography that didn't exist before," says photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
Dangin began collaborating with photographers on art book projects about four years ago. The more he worked on editing the images and creating the layouts, the more he became immersed in the process of making books. "I grew increasingly concerned with the careful art of translating the walls of an exhibition into the pages of a book in a way that would give the viewer a closer look at the images and a greater understanding of them," he says. He likes that books give readers time to revisit an image again and again, discovering its nuances and subtleties. Says Alex Dagan, of D.A.P., "A photographic digital file proves its superiority when you print it. Dangin is the most skilled manipulator of digital images in the world."
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