Sunday 18 March 2007

Weeks of experimentation in the darkroom

All the posting from how many days does it take to destroy a fine art print to Weeks of experimentation in the darkroom are a result of many weeks of experiments.
I have scanned them all in today because tomorrow I will be starting a new lot of experiments and then there will be even more images to scan in.

Matt paper-looks like a screen print and feels like velvet.


This is the same print as the previous one,only it has been printed on Foma paper (Matt paper )as a text strip with different exposures.


Printing -Zone system


In trying to print a print using the Zone system -Ansel adams I have ran into problems ,and after a number of different attempts I spoke to Nigel ,he does lith Printing for exhibition etc and so after a lenghtly discussion on Friday 17 th March , worked out what had gone wrong and now I have I will be taking som more photgraphy using my wonderful Zeroimage 6x 6 pinhole camera ,brought from the delightful Ebay ,which has been my best buy ever shot No 471 with it last year and how hidden haikus this year, will be using Pan 50 instead of the 125 I have been using ,much richer tones and longer exposure times.
The above photograph is a hard negative to print, beacuse it has been overexposed quite abit.

Why I love Fine art black and white photographs


I know digital is here to stay, but the prints that come out of a Digital printer, after a great deal of colour calibration, don’t move me, in the same way that feels much.
I have worked on for many days, (Forget me not series Photo paintings in progress )there's something about holding a silver print which has been beautifully printed ,that Digital can't reach, this is from someone who does actually shoot a lot of digital ,Space is digital and so is Voyage around Manchester Geological Gardens .
I hope that film and print by hand never dies, like painting didn’t when photography arrived.
I know it’s a losing battle with Paper companies closing down (Agfa which made the most delightful fibre based paper ever, it had a lovely golden brown tone to it) and Forte which I haven’t used, but is also no longer with us, but at least we still have Ilford which has made a big commitment to us traditional black and white printers and of course Kentmere in the lake district which also make wonderful paper.
Anyway this week I am going to coat my own paper, using handmade Fabriano paper and Liquid Light Emulsion brought from Jessops, I want to print A1 size by hand , never printed that large before ,I ‘ll print a few ,and keep one and destroy the rest by Fire, water , wind, anything involving the destruction of the print (landscape) and if it’s sunny I can also start filming my installation of the future of hidden landscapes as well, need to edit over Easter and work on the soundscape as well.

Fine art black and white printing


Test strip for a pinhole photograph made by placing the camera on the ground angled to the grass, working out the exposure for the final print.

Lith print ..the frustration continues


This another creative experiment with Kentment Paper..using KODALITH LIQUID DEVELOPER, PART A and KODALITH LIQUID DEVELOPER, PART Bwith normal water as stop bath and regular fixer, still doesn't look how it should ,look more like Edward Sheriff Curtis's Orotones only dark brown


The Picture of Dorian Gray


Lith don't work, neither does the tea, but burning a photograph, which was printed with so much care takes on a new meaning, it becomes a metaphor for the destruction of hidden landscapes, since a photograph is only ever showing the past, this is showing the future too, the destruction which will happen to this little oasis of trees and hedges where birds and squirrels wonder, and where I enjoy exploring.