A couple of days ago I received my Mac Mini with the M1 silicon chip and then a few days ago the new Benq 27″ PhotoVue monitor arrived. So the start of an interesting transition from the all-in-one iMac back to working again with separate components. Getting all of these parts to work together has not been very challenging, but I have run into some compatibility issues with drivers not yet ready to work the Mini M1 chip. Extra strips back to Best Buy.
The monitor came with a number of options to connect to the Mac Mini and I choose the HDMI cables since this was an available port on the Mini (it has two less USB-A compared to the iMac). Currently I am using the two Thunderbolt (USB-C) on the Mini for my external hard drives. Since I am not a gamer, I am not concerned about the limited refresh rate that apparently dogs the HDMI connections (so I am told).
So first thing yesterday was to install and color profile my entire work flow using my X-Rite i1 Studio. The brightness for the Benq was good right out of the box, and I set the color mode to RGB, which is my primary use with the Canon printer. Not creating web-based Ad work, I am not as particular about color managing the sRGB color mode of the monitor (also do not think I need to install the Hotkey Puck that ships with monitor to help with switching between color modes). Since I had to download Photoshop again to the new computer, I needed to create color profiles for my three principal Hahnemuehle printing papers with the Canon printer.
For the photograph above that is in the final consideration for my book Instant Nomad, I had been thinking that printing this image on the Hahnemuehle Rag Metallic might look pretty interesting, but then the iMac crashed. So this photograph was the number one candidate to print on the Rag Metallic as a confirmation of the color calibration that I just completed. And it is a beautiful confirmation of Mini, Benq monitor and the Canon printer; most excellent! What’s on the monitor looks like what’s on the paper, just as it should be.
As to this photograph that was created in one of the very numerous airports that I have transitioned, I think it really does visually create the underlying tension I experience when traveling. I have been through so many airports that my recall is very blurred; these places all seem to blend together as to whether I am in the United States, Europe or Asia. These airport terminals take on a kind of sameness; customs, border control, hallways, shops, bars and long corridors to the various check-in counters for the aircraft of the day.
Cheers
Doug
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Current exhibition:
May 7th – 29th, 2021, Southeast Center for Photography (SEC4P), Greenville, South Carolina. A group photographic exhibition on the theme of Flora, juried by Wendi Schneider.
Singular Images 
Your image really captures that jet lagged ‘where am I really?’ brain fuzz. And also the restless traipsing along endless pathways during transition between flights. Thank you for sharing technical screen and printing details – I find them very helpful.