Projects | Michael Berman

Artist Michael Berman

Under a Dry Moon:  One Hundred Views of the Grand Desierto.

"96W_091 Shadow"- © Michael Berman

The Gran Desierto is 7,000 square miles of desert on the western border of Arizona and Sonora.  Sand dunes and a shield volcano rise out of the Sea of Cortez and float into open basins and thin granite ranges. A single paved road cuts across the desert in between the Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range and the Reserva de la Biosfera El Pinacate y ­El Gran Desierto de Altar.

For seven years Michael Berman wandered the Gran Desierto.  He carried a 4x5 view camera, drove an old truck, and made over 4,000 photographs.  He was awarded a three-year fellowship from the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona.  In 2006 he published two monographs on the Gran Desierto:  “Sunshot”, by the University of Arizona Press, with text by Bill Broyles, and “Inferno”, by the University of Texas Press, with text by Charles Bowden. 

Under a Dry Moon:  One Hundred Views of the Gran Desierto, by Michael P. Berman, is a first edition portfolio published by Infinite Editions.  The portfolio is comprised of seven folios, each containing between 12 to 17 prints.  The images are printed 11.5” x 14.5” on 16” x 20” paper.  The portfolio was printed February 2007 in an edition of eight portfolios of 100 images.  Two artist’s proofs and two printer’s proofs were also produced.

We started this project with Michael in 2004 and completed it in 2007.  Approximately 200 high resolution drum scans of his negatives were produced, from which the final 100 images were selected.  The digital files for each of the 100 images included in the portfolio were proofed, modified, reproofed, remodified - a process that continued as many times as needed, until we felt that each image was printed as perfectly as could be. This effort took over two years to complete. At this point, a bon à tirer, or master proof, was printed for each of the 100 images.  We had decided to produce this edition as a true edition, meaning that the entire set of 1,200 prints was produced in one print run.  The edition was printed using the Piezotone warm neutral inkset on Hahnemühle William Turner paper.  The images were layed out, four up to an Iris size sheet, and printed on three Epson 9600 printers driven by the StudioPrint RIP.  Each sheet took over three hours to print due to the quality settings chosen in the RIP.

This portfolio of incredible imagery is one of the finest products we have produced in the studio. Infinite Editions has two of the eight portfolios still available.  Interested parties should contact Infinite Editions for further information regarding the purchase of one of these portfolios. 

Click here to view Michael Berman's portfolio: Under a Dry Moon

Please visit Michael Berman's website to learn more about this phenomenal artist.