by Rebecca Cooper
Staff Writer
The platinum/palladium photography of Michael Orona features landscape and architecture from around southern California. It is currently on display in the Carlson Gallery of Photography.
The prints show the diverse California geography, including photographs from the San Gabriel Mountains, the Mojave Desert and the Pacific Ocean.
“I’m impressed with the fine craftsmanship and extremely good work [Orona] has done,” said Gary Colby, director of the Irene Carlson Gallery of Photography. “Photography is not his job, it’s something he does avocationally. Photography is one of the things someone can do with their life that helps us all through art and history. He’s made something that will really last.”
Platinum/palladium photography is a black and white technique that has been used for centuries. Each print is made by hand through coating wet emulsion paper onto the paper of choice.
“It’s a difficult type of photography, because you have to be much more careful with exposure, light and processing,” Colby said.
Photographs made with the platinum/palladium process are extremely durable, but lack the darkest black or lightest white of the black and white photography that is common today.
Orona, a Monrovia resident started photography in 1993, when he enrolled in classes at Glendale College. The photography classes eventually led him to the platinum/palladium style in 1998.
The photographs will be on display in the Carlson Gallery, which is located on the first floor of Miller Hall, until Nov. 22.. A public reception for Orona will be held Nov. 15 from 7p.m. to 9 p.m.
