If someone thinks that photography of the present day are only made in digital format, well, they are so very wrong. Even though it was invented in 1839, the daguerreotypes are still produced, to this day. Actually, almost all of the photographic processes are still produced, for there are artists who believe that photography is timeless, and the processes are not just a part of the history books, but nonetheless part of the present day, just as painting or sculpture.And the value of works of art produced with so miscalled "archaic processes" are more valuable than most of the people would imagine. The prints of this series of daguerreotypes taken by Close were sold at Christie's for a whopping $166,000 in 2007. Brad Pitt graced the cover of the February 2009 issue of W Magazine, and I guess most people would never thought that this image was produced with century old photographic process.While photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent, Chuck Close says in Artists & Alchemists documentary feature, I think it is the hardest medium in which to have a distinctive personal vision.Known for his unparalleled attention to detail in hyperrealist portraiture, Close explains in conveying that vision his predilection for using immensely revealing daguerreotypes, plates that capture just about the widest possible range of highlights and shadows with the use of strobe lights that capture quite literately the power of the sun.A Couple of Ways of Doing Something, on view at the Wichita Art Museum through April 15, 2012. The series features fifteen massive prints of the artists world-renowned friends (Cindy Sherman, Philip Glass, James Turrell, Laurie Anderson, to name a few) presented with microscopic intimacy, each alongside a poem by Bob Holman.The work was inspired in part by a collaborative series of lithographs done by poet/curator Frank OHara and artist Larry Rivers in the late 50s, as Close explains briefly in the accompanying interview from the 2006 Aperture monograph A Couple of Ways of Doing Something with Lyle Rexer, author of the Edge of Vision.As photography moves forward becoming more widespread and accessible, in an era when the premium put on absolute originality is largely in question, sometimes reaching back for precedent can be as fruitful as rediscovering archaic technology. Or as Close puts it, In 1840 virtually everything I love about photography was already there.for more info on Chuck:http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/http://www.chuckclose.org also go to Youtube and type Chuck Close!!! A impressionante carreira de Chuck Close se extende alem dos seus trabalhos completos. Mais do que um fotografo, impressor e gravador, Close constroi experiencias visuais para os observadores, que, no curso de 30 anos, forcou os limites da impressao de uma maneira incrivel.As imagens de Close nao sao criadas digitalmente ou foto-mecanicamente, sao todos feitos do jeito antigo, a mao. Com confianca e respeito pelos processos tecnicos, e em colaboracao com mestres impressores e gravadores, essenciais na criacao dos seus trabalhos, suas obras sao o resultado de intenso trabalho e muito tempo dedicado a finalizacao, que pode durar meses, ou anos.Processo e colaboracao sao duas palavras essenciais no