PRESS ROOM STORY
HARMAN TECHNOLOGY TAKES STEPS TO PRESERVE ULF PHOTOGRAPHY
15th May 2009
HARMAN TECHNOLOGY TAKES STEPS TO PRESERVE ULF PHOTOGRAPHY
Through its ILFORD PHOTO black and white brand, HARMAN technology Limited is once again staging a ‘No M.O.Q’ ordering window for Ultra Large Format (ULF) photographers
Highlighting the strength of its commitment to all forms of analogue photography, HARMAN technology is once again staging its ‘No M.O.Q’ ULF ordering window. This annual initiative, which is now in its fourth year, allows Ultra Large Format (ULF) photographers to order sheet film from the manufacturer’s ILFORD PHOTO black and white brand, free from the constraints of minimum order quantities (M.O.Qs). Instead, HARMAN will combine orders from participating dealers across the United Kingdom to ensure production runs remain viable.
The window, which opened on May 1st, will run until July 3rd 2009. After the closing date, HARMAN will manufacture the products at its factory in Mobberley, Cheshire with a view to shipping the products to arrive with dealers by mid-September. Specific products covered include FP4 PLUS in sizes up to 12 x 20 inches, HP5 PLUS in sizes up to 20 x 24 inches and ORTHO PLUS in hard to find sizes such as 18cm by 24cm.
HARMAN cites the initiative as an integral part of the ILFORD PHOTO ‘Defend the Darkroom’ campaign. Launched in late 2007, ‘Defend the Darkroom’ aims to safeguard the future of darkrooms and associated creative techniques, whilst simultaneously showing how traditional analogue and digital photography can co-exist. It hopes to do this through a wide range of educational, promotional and customer support activities.
Speaking of the ‘No MOQ’ ULF ordering window, Steven Brierley, Director of Marketing at HARMAN technology, said: “Whether someone prefers to shoot 35mm, medium format or large format, they can rest assured that HARMAN technology remains as committed as ever to manufacturing a wide range of black and white films. This is actually the fourth year we have staged the ‘No M.O.Q’ ULF ordering window and we will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Someone has to champion analogue photography and who better than HARMAN with a history in the medium stretching back over 130 years.”
The window has already been well received by ULF photographers across the world. J.B. Harlin, an acclaimed Texas-based photographer who shoots only with LF and ULF film and has done so for over 15 years, said: “For me, only a large format camera can give me what I want from a photographic image. Large negatives enable the creation of the most detailed, realistic prints possible. For example, a 4 x 5 negative has over 4.5 times the resolution of a 35mm negative while an 8 x 10 negative delivers more than 7 times the resolution. This increased information in the negative helps to intensify the illusion of a 3-dimensional look and feel in the finished print.”
“In today’s digital world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to buy specialist ULF products and so HARMAN’s ‘No M.O.Q’ ULF ordering window is fantastic news for all ULF photographers – myself included.”
For more information on ILFORD PHOTO, visit www.ilfordphoto.com
For more information on HARMAN technology, visit www.harmantechnology.com
For more information on JB Harlin, visit www.jbhphoto.com
Dealers participating in the ‘No MOQ’ ULF ordering window include:
Silverprint Ltd
12 Valentine Place,
London SE1 8QH
Tel: 020 7620 0844
Web: www.silverprint.co.uk
Email: sales@silverprint.co.uk
Robert White Photographic Limited
16 Alder Hills
Poole BH12 4AR
Tel: 01202 723046
Web: www.robertwhite.co.uk
Email: sales@robertwhite.co.uk
Morco Limited
20 Oak Tree Business Park,
Oak Tree Lane
Mansfield NG18 3HQ
Tel: 01623 422828
Web: www.morco.uk.com
Email: sales@morco.uk.com
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Image: Tenaya Lake_2007_JBHarlin.jpg
Caption: Large format, any quantity. ULF Photographers like J.B. Harlin are set to benefit from HARMAN technology’s no minimum order quantity ULF ordering window.
For more information on this story, please contact Wayne Mohammed at Manifest Communications on
07515 574 680 or email wayne@manifestcomms.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS –
About ILFORD PHOTO/HARMAN technology
It’s almost impossible to think of photography without thinking of the ILFORD range of black and white products. Formed in 1879 by Alfred Hugh Harman, one of photography’s first pioneers, the brand enjoys near iconic status and is loved and respected by photographers all over the world.
Today, the 129-year-old manufacturer of films, darkroom papers and photochemistry is no longer part of a business with the same name. In 2004, after suffering from the surge in digital photography, it was put up for sale as a going concern. Rather than see such a photographic institution disappear, six long-term ILFORD managers stepped in and staged a management buy out. The ILFORD brand of analogue products survived but the newly formed parent company had to change its name - adopting HARMAN technology Limited in honour of ILFORD’s original founding father.
Recognising that some photographers will always prefer to shoot film, and aware of the value of analogue photography from an archival perspective and in terms of teaching students the basics such as the importance of aperture setting and shutter speed, HARMAN technology remains as committed as ever to servicing the analogue market.
It plans to continue production of the ILFORD analogue range – even in this increasingly digital age. Understanding that product availability and film processing can be an issue, it has also formed supply agreements that see it distribute products on behalf of companies like Paterson Photographic (who manufacture darkroom equipment) and introduced its own Process & Print service. It has brought Kentmere Photographic - a smaller manufacturer of black and white products - into its fold. It has even launched a campaign to ‘Defend the Darkroom’ which aims to promote the co-existence of analogue and digital photography, and to help photo-educators resist administrative pressure to give up their darkroom facilities.
Because progress is important too and aware its photo-imaging expertise can be of equal benefit to the digital photographer, HARMAN technology has also gone on to launch an inkjet media range. Sold under the name HARMAN PHOTO, these products draw on the same imaging expertise, the same coating technology and even the same paper bases as the ILFORD black and white range to offer digital photographers the convenience of digital printing with the tactile appeal, image permanence and visual vibrancy of a traditional photographic print.
For more information on HARMAN technology and its brands, visit:
www.harmantechnology.com // www.harman-inkjet.com // www.ilfordphoto.com // www.kentmere.com
The history of ILFORD PHOTO/HARMAN technology
1879 – Founded by Alfred Hugh Harman, one of the early exponents of William Fox Talbot’s negative/positive Calotype process. Harman chose to locate his business outside of London in the village of Ilford, Essex where the air was cleaner and less likely to interfere with the production of photographic plates. This location also gave rise to the business’ name.
1892 – George Eastman forms the Eastman Kodak Company.
1897 – ILFORD enjoys record profits but Alfred Harman is forced to retire due to ill health.
1928 – ILFORD acquires its Mobberley site in Cheshire - at the time home to fellow photography product manufacturer Rajar Ltd.
1969 – ILFORD is taken over by Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical giant, Ciba Geigy.
1983 – ILFORD closes all sites in Essex and consolidates activities at Mobberley, Cheshire.
1989 – The company is sold to the International Paper Corporation of America.
1998 – ILFORD is acquired by independent private equity firm, Doughty Hanson.
2004 – ILFORD celebrates 125 years of manufacturing photography products. However, falling demand for black and white photographs and a surge in the popularity of digital imaging sees the analogue side of the business based in Mobberley put up for sale as a going concern. A second side of the business, which produces digital inkjet products from a site in Switzerland (a legacy of when the company was owned by Ciba Geigy) remains profitable and continues to trade as normal under the ILFORD name.
2005 – In a deal that saves hundreds of jobs and arguably the immediate future of analogue photography, the black and white side of ILFORD undergoes a management buy-out. It now falls into the hands of the people who perhaps should have owned it all along: six directors - all long-term ILFORD employees and all keen photography enthusiasts who remain committed to servicing the needs of analogue photographers.
The new business can continue to use the ILFORD brand name, but only on black and white products. The actual company name must change for legal reasons. A new name is chosen in honour of ILFORD’s original founding father and HARMAN technology Limited is born.