Tusen Takk: A Place for Photographers
Tusen Takk’s beach on Lake Michigan. The photo above and pictures of the studios by Vaune Trachtman.
Tusen Takk is a place that’s been especially built by Founder Geoffrey Peckham for fellow photographers who want a time and a place to print their work. Though the solitude and the beauty of the surrounding forest and Great Lakes coastline is stunningly beautiful, the real draw for photographers is our printmaking capabilities.
Tusen Takk’s digital imaging studio is outfitted with two Epson P9000 commercial edition printers and two Epson 9880 printers. All have a maximum output width of 44" by whatever length is desired. One printer is set up with archival Cone Color inks, one with archival Cone Piezography inks (9 shades of black for black and white printing), and one is set up for producing photogravure plates and digital negatives/positives. The fourth 9880 is a backup. In addition to the four large printers, two smaller 17” wide Epson 4880 printers are here for making work prints and limited edition small book publishing.
Tusen Takk’s etching studio is set up as a place for photographers to make beautiful photogravure images. The 30" x 50" etching press can output images as large as 28" x 46" on paper that’s slightly larger. Our platemaking processes have been perfected to achieve photogravure prints that exhibit a superb tonal range and high level of detail. Importantly, we’re using non-toxic inkjet printing to put images on plates that are exposed to UV light and developed with water; in short, we’re making photogravures safely. The tactile quality of photographs reproduced by impressing ink on paper is simply exquisite, giving photographers a unique way to edition their work.
When completed in May 2021, our analog darkroom will be outfitted with a 16’ long dry side that has three enlargers: a Leitz Focomat 1C with its original condenser head, a Beseler 45MXT with a Zone VI cold light head, and a DeVere 504 with a colorhead. The wet side will have a 16” long x 30” wide sink with thermostatic water mixing controls, a Zone VI developing timer and an additional deep sink containing 20x24 and 16x20 Zone VI print washers.
Photographer-in-residence Vaune Trachtman studying portraits in the collection by Berenice Abbott. Photo by Geoffrey Peckham
Lastly, Geoffrey’s collection of photographic prints is a resource for those who want to see the work of a wide selection of the history of photography. Garry Winogrand once told Geoffrey that the two things you need to do to take great photographs is first, put yourself in places where great pictures can be taken, and second, surround yourself with the work of great photographers so you can tell whether what you’re doing is good or bad. Geoffrey’s collection contains a substantial number of works by masters of the medium including many of Eugene Atget’s images of France, Berenice Abbott’s 1920s portraits, Walker Evans’, Robert Frank’s, Lee Friedlander’s and Garry Winogrand’s pictures of America, Edward Weston’s nudes and landscapes, William Clift’s landscapes and portraits, Manuel Alvarez Bravo’s and Paul Strand‘s images of Mexico, as well as prints by Edward Steichen, Frank Gohlke, Irving Penn and a long list of others’ fine contributions to the medium.
In sum, Tusen Takk is a place where photographers can work. In solitude. With great printmaking equipment to achieve their creative ends.
Vaune Trachtman and Brian Mooney enjoying a selection of Eugene Atget’s work. Photo by Geoffrey Peckham
