Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A yen for paper —hearing the call


I used to do photographs printed on Rives BFK where I coated with a silver nitrate solution called Van Dyke Brown. I found the formula while researching the early development of photography. As you might imagine, it was a laborious process with 20x24 inch contact negatives, mixing dangerous chemicals, coating with glass rods, 1 hour exposures in the sun and so on.

I'm no longer doing this work in my own practice but am heartened to see others who have picked up the baton in this digital age. Check out the artist, Su Blackwell as well as the the Alternative Photography website. They have old formulas, pracitioners and more. In addition I may be returning — I've got that yen again and I've been experimenting with Golden's Mix More Media. I love digital—no darkroom need apply. But paper? It sings a siren song.

2007-beringer-wine-spot-w-video from Su Blackwell on Vimeo.




Source: Youtube

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