Professional Practice - Process Ideas

In June of this year the class of 09 put on their '2nd year photographic exhibition' along with many other students from the Arts and Humanities depts. I exhibited 3 images produced in the wet plate collodion processes. These images had been digitized and enlarged to a meter and half by a meter. I was never quite convinced about the final printed process. Over summer, after a discussion with the lecturing staff, I researched alternative photographic printing processes. This was an area I had identified to further expand my knowledge of alternative photography for my Professional Practice assignment.

There are so many different processes that I would like to explore this year and specifically for this assignment, but with quite a tight deadline reluctantly some of these processes will have to be reined in. 

I have provisionally chosen 3 alternative photographic processes to experiment with:

Liquid Emulsion


Salt Printing


Gum Birchromate

Liquid Emulsion

The first process I wished to  explore was Liquid Emulsion. This process allows the photographer to use alternative surfaces which to print on, not being tied to manufacturers constraints. This can be handmade paper through to glass.

Gary Kirkham - Liquid Emulsion on handmade paper

The basic outline for using Liquid Emulsion:

Under safe light prepare the emulsion by warming it in a jug of hot water

Coat paper with a brush - vertical coat then a horizontal coat.

Once fully dry expose the paper (or other surface) with chosen neg. Contact print or enlarging technique can be used.

Develop paper as normal photographic paper.

Fix with hardening fixer

Wash print

Dry

Salt Printing

The second process I wish to try is Salt Printing. This is the very same process that William Henry Fox Talbot invented in 1834. By using smooth writing paper washed in a weak solution of salt, then coated with silver nitrate, dried and then exposed to the sun. He then fixed the image with a strong solution of salt. 

Bruce Rae salt print

I first became aware of the beauty of salt printing via the work of Bruce Rae. His preferred process is to use Adox film and then contact print the negative. There is something subtle about his work with the use of natural light on compositions of still life.

Basic Salt Printing Process:

Choose an appropriate good quality  paper

Salt the paper in a solution of sodium chloride and purified water for approx 2 minutes

Allow to fully dry

Sensitize (silver nitrate, distilled water and citric acid) the paper under subdued tungsten light but allow the paper to dry in darkness.

Contact print a suitable negative and allow the paper to be exposed in direct sunlight or a UV light source.

Fix the image with a solution of sodium thiosuplhate (hypo) and wash in running water

Allow to dry

Gum Bichromate

Mungo Ponton published a paper in 1839 on the light sensitivity of chromates. Many have developed this process further, Fox Talbot being one. In 1894 Rouille-Ladevez refined the process by using gum birchromates which provided an artist like view to his images. This inspired many other who where seeking stronger links with the art work notably the Pictorialist.

One of the most famous and expensive pictures to use this processes was The pond - Moonlight by Edward Steichen. Sold in 2006 for $2.9 million dollars.



Basic Gum Bichromate Printing Process:

Make up the sensitizing solution by mixing Potassium dichromate with distilled water. Mix gum solution - prepared bought solution.
Mix equal parts sensitizing solution to gum solution plus a colour (water colour pigment) if required
Coat paper with a soft brush. Allow fully to dry in the dark.
Expose the by contact print method in sunlight.
Develop by first washing the paper gently in  water. Then soak face down in a tray of water for 10 to 20 minutes. Repeat this two more times.
Allow print to dry
The image can be re coated with the same or other coloured solutions.