My last post centered on the importance of personal connections in my life, including my introduction to Andy Rogers and Supersod Saturday. It was during this 2018 event, held at Andy’s home, that I met Steve Bullock—son of Lenora Capillupo Bullock. As is often the case, my curiosity led me to ask Steve about his family, experiences and work life. It turns out that Steve, who grew up in north Denver’s Italian American community, was part of the Beat Generation and an active participant in the anti-war protests following World War II. Steve also spent many years working as a pressman for The Denver Post. After learning that Steve was part of Colorado’s printing industry, I asked him if he might be interested in helping me learn more about printing processes and presses held in the History Colorado collection. Steve generously said yes and, offered to set up a tour of The Postprinting facility in Denver.
On March 22, 2018, Steve and I met with staff at The Postplant and toured the facility. The experience was insightful and inspiring. I learned about the process of creating layouts; saw digital files transformed into printing plates and toured the pressroom floor. Here, is was impressed by the three levels of four-color printing presses used to produce pages, eventually collated into the contents of a daily paper. The process of producing the news, ultimately delivered to our doorsteps as a printed newspaper (or in many cases via the web or delivered to our inboxes) was remarkable. At many stops on the tour I found myself thinking about the process as it exists today, what it was like in 1892, the year The Denver Postwas founded, and the changes it will inevitably undergo in the future.
In addition to meeting the staff and seeing the plant, I was captivated and moved by the beauty around me. From the first room we entered—the paper room—to the ink room at the end, I found inspiration everywhere. At times, I know my guides wondered what I was up to, watching as I photographed the exterior of the press walls, layered with oil, dirt and ink. In time they understood and appreciated my genuine desire to understand their work. By the middle of the tour, when I was taking video footage of newspapers on the line, moving thru the pressroom overhead, they joined the documentary processes, offering suggestions for details they thought I should capture.
I appreciate that the visual world moves me. I enjoy when the experience is shared with others. I find wonder in the abstract, in mechanical movements, the visually tactical and in vibrant colors found in nature, as well as, everyday processes. I am always on the lookout for beauty in unusual places. In the words of Edgar Degas “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
