Process Notes :
I continue to make silver prints using purchased paper and chemistry but have become enamored with methods from the early days of photography. Then everything was “made from scratch”.
The palladiums are contact prints. The print size is the same as the negative size. A solution of palladium salts is prepared then spread on cotton rag paper. When dry, the coating is sensitive to light. The negative is then placed in contact with the sensitized paper where it is held in place with a glass sheet. This is then exposed to ultraviolet light for 2 to 30 minutes to make a positive then rinsed and cleared.
Cyanotypes are also contact prints. A solution of iron salts is prepared then spread on cotton or rice paper. The negative is placed on top of the sensitized coating and exposed to ultraviolet light for 1 to 15 minutes. The developed print is then bleached with sodium carbonate and toned with tannic acid.
I continue to make silver prints using purchased paper and chemistry but have become enamored with methods from the early days of photography. Then everything was “made from scratch”.
The palladiums are contact prints. The print size is the same as the negative size. A solution of palladium salts is prepared then spread on cotton rag paper. When dry, the coating is sensitive to light. The negative is then placed in contact with the sensitized paper where it is held in place with a glass sheet. This is then exposed to ultraviolet light for 2 to 30 minutes to make a positive then rinsed and cleared.
Cyanotypes are also contact prints. A solution of iron salts is prepared then spread on cotton or rice paper. The negative is placed on top of the sensitized coating and exposed to ultraviolet light for 1 to 15 minutes. The developed print is then bleached with sodium carbonate and toned with tannic acid.
For these processes all of my photographs are from in camera negatives. I shoot a restored 1950s folding camera and view cameras. Occasionally I am successful with pinhole and slit cameras which create an image without a lens. Both these camera types are homemade.
Only recently have I made use of a digital camera using creative filters and long exposures to capture moving sand and water. This takes advantage of one’s ability to delete unsuccessful images…in the case of moving water while panning the camera, most of them. These images are printed on cotton paper using pigment inks.
Another process that has piqued my interest is Mordançage. This process is one that substantially distresses a silver print. Darkroom prints are subjected to chemical solutions that cause the gelatin image to bleach and separate from its backing. When it “looks ready” I redevelop the image and attempt to arrange the fragments in a manner that pleases the eye. After washing and drying I scan what remains…the original is quite unstable. What you are looking at here are the scans from which quality pigment prints are made.
