Philip Taylor. Cuba (1960)
I received this print last week as a gift from my friend, photographer Philip Taylor. The image was taken in Cuba in 1960. The woman in the photo was from Mexico and her name has been forgotten. I can't wait to get this photograph into a frame and on the wall. Phil Taylor turned 85 last month. We meet for coffee every other week to discuss photography, politics and economics, among a dozen other topics. Phil spent his entire working career as a commercial printer, and he is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about photographic printing techniques. Every time we get together, one of us brings a photography book, and we not only discuss the aesthetic value of the images, we also analyse the pages under a loupe and Phil teaches me exactly how the book was printed. I have learned so much about the printing process of photographs as a result of our meetings. Philip is still semi-actively shooting and he prints his own work in a kitchen darkroom set-up. He is quite a guy, and I value his friendship.
