Printing The Greater Journey

by Steven Kosovac

Three years have passed since I found myself in a taxi driving through olive groves just outside of the Italian city of Pistoia. Three years since I first attended the Aegean Center Fall Semester – the start of a profoundly formative journey that has drawn me to the tiny marble island of Paros time and again.

This past summer I returned once more to Paros, not as a student but as assistant to John Pack in the printing of The Greater Journey. A two-tome collection of photographs by John and poetry by Peter Abbs, the book was printed in a limited run of 121 handcrafted books. I arrived to find Peter’s poetry, already printed by letterpress on Hahnemühle fine art paper, resting on the shelf. My job then was to transform the reams of virgin paper and litres of Piezography printer ink resting nearby into the 21-image portfolios that accompany each book of poetry.

After a leisurely few weeks spent on the island (my arrival was premature, as the spring semester was still in session), I abruptly transformed into a machine, printing more than 2,500 images over a period of six weeks. In the air-conditioned oasis of the Center’s digital lab I methodically loaded Hahnemühle’s soft and warm bamboo digital photography paper into an Epson 4800 printer modified to take Piezography monochromatic inks.

The unique ink blends required continual minor adjustments to the contrast and midtones, but apart from a few minor setbacks and one near-catastrophe – solved after many hours of determined problem solving with John – the images printed without trouble.

Though much of the work was mechanical and repetitious, the time spent looking at the photographs and understanding John’s sensitive photographic eye has contributed to my own visual sensibilities. And that is to say nothing of the invaluable hours passed beside a great and determined mind.

Now with the job done and a new school year starting again, I’ve left Paros one more time, and my own journey continues.

The Greater Journey is to be presented to donors who make a substantial contribution to the Aegean Center Endowment Fund or otherwise significantly support the Center’s mission and various development projects. For more information please contact John Pack directly via email or phone at the Aegean Center.