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Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 11:37 am
by melek
I just received this today from Les' son. Les was one of my favorite photography friends. He lived a great life and had a wonderful wit.
I am writing to let you know that my father, Les Gediman, passed away very peacefully on July 31, 2021 after having been in hospice care for about six months due to heart failure. We have put together a memorial website for him at https://lesgediman.com, which includes a guest book for friends and family to leave any thoughts about him. I am sending this out to everyone that was in my Dad’s email contact list. If this is getting to you in error, please disregard.
All the best,
Dan
dangediman@gmail.com
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 9:03 pm
by Julio1fer
Thanks for posting this, Mike. We will miss Les.
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:36 am
by GrahamS
I have the following enquiry from Dan Gediman, I quote from his e-mail:
My Dad left behind easily hundreds of thousands of negatives, packed in many, many boxes. To my knowledge, they go back as far as the late 1940s, possibly earlier. I have no idea what to do with them and would greatly appreciate any ideas from you and the rest of the Nelson Foto community. Dad has wanted to give them (and some of his prints) to some archive that might like them. I was going to approach the two art schools he went to, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, but I’m entirely open to other ideas.
Lastly, what is the state of the art right now for what can be done with negatives. Is there a way to digitally turn them into positives and enlarge them, as we once did in a darkroom? If so, that would be Godsend.
I have replied that I will post his query here for suggestions; I have recommended that Dan contact Fototrove at Getty Images, with the view to offering them Les' archive. However, other ideas will be welcome.
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:27 pm
by Julio1fer
Lastly, what is the state of the art right now for what can be done with negatives. Is there a way to digitally turn them into positives and enlarge them, as we once did in a darkroom? If so, that would be Godsend.
Well, of course it can be done. However, with hundreds of thousands it becomes a large job. Are there providers for these services?
I have a similar problem with my late father negatives.
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:58 am
by GrahamS
Dan's email address is:
dangediman@gmail.com
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:27 am
by Santiago Montenegro
I've been fearing this news for a long time. Godspeed, Les. Wll never forget you.
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:38 pm
by titrisol
Scanning the negatives into decent quality can be done
From there enlarging is easy, but given the amount of pictures this will be a titanic endeavour
GrahamS wrote: ↑Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:36 am
I have the following enquiry from Dan Gediman, I quote from his e-mail:
My Dad left behind easily hundreds of thousands of negatives, packed in many, many boxes. To my knowledge, they go back as far as the late 1940s, possibly earlier. I have no idea what to do with them and would greatly appreciate any ideas from you and the rest of the Nelson Foto community. Dad has wanted to give them (and some of his prints) to some archive that might like them. I was going to approach the two art schools he went to, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, but I’m entirely open to other ideas.
Lastly, what is the state of the art right now for what can be done with negatives. Is there a way to digitally turn them into positives and enlarge them, as we once did in a darkroom? If so, that would be Godsend.
I have replied that I will post his query here for suggestions; I have recommended that Dan contact Fototrove at Getty Images, with the view to offering them Les' archive. However, other ideas will be welcome.
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 8:51 pm
by LarryD
Enjoy the sleep Pappa Les.
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:47 pm
by jamesmck
I am deeply saddened to hear of Les's passing. Were were mostly online friends, but I did get to visit with him a few times to do some picture taking. The photo above was taken in 2009. We were visiting an Audubon refuge in Natick MA and he had two rather small cameras around his neck and was complaining that they were uncomfortable to use because of his large hands. I must have said something like "show me" and he struck this pose. What a great guy!
Re: Farewell to Les Gediman
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:58 pm
by rgeorge911
Hi All,
I had the great pleasure of knowing Claudia and Lester. We met online and only got together in person twice, both times during a single visit I made to Mass in October of 2010. They were amazing, wonderful people.
Claudia made chicken marengo for dinner. Lester just plain entertained non-stop. See the attached images to share in my memory of these wonderful people, including Les’ impression of Albert Einstein.
I am so happy to have gotten to know them, at least a little.
Best,
Reed