wrote:
Here's a question that I haven't seen asked on the internet: how does
one become a master printer? I'm not looking for a quick recipe, but I
want to know what it takes. Is it a matter of getting a good
background in photography at a school, landing a job in a lab, honing
your craft for years, and building a reputation? I'd really appreciate
it if the printers out there could share how they did it. How did you
become a master printer?

From 1980 to 1991 I worked up to 40 hours per week in a custom B&W
darkroom. I was ordering 3 1/2 by 5 then 4 by 5 paper a case at a
time. This was so I could keep the same emulsion number. During that
time I used about 250,000 sheets of regular prints. I have no idea how
much large paper I used. I started doing darkroom work in 1967. I
worked for a man that had taken classes from Ansel Adams. I printed
and developed negatives from 110 to 8x10. I enlarged everything from
110 to 4x5.
I AM NOT A MASTER PRINTER.

Good luck trying to become a master printer. The only thing I can
recommend is roll your sleeves up, get busy, and lose any thought of
having a social life.