Gum Printing & Digital Enhancements - Final Integrated Assignment

In this final assignment I wanted to amalgamate as much of the knowledge gained in the past three years into these final images. I especially wanted to incorporate some of the findings presented in my dissertation. I had written a chapter on the use of digital technology and its association with photographic art. In my mind I was concerned that the ease of digitally technology could it ever be considered and held in the same reverence as more traditional forms of photography. I had come to the conclusion it could when carrying out primary research and asking accomplished digital photographers their thoughts. However, the only way really to fully appreciate this is to try it yourself, combine both digital and analogue processes and see what emerges. In the Professional Studies assignment I had experimented with this in mind. The image below demonstrates the use of such processes:

This image was created by combining Victorian and modern technologies. To create the swirls around the leaf a Petzval lens was used. The film was Adox CMS 100 first produced in the mid 60's, taken on a modern large format camera. The negative was then contact printed using the Salt Process of Fox Talbot. It was then converted to a digital file via the use of a scanner. The salt print file and the original negative file were manipulated in Photoshop to create the image you see above.


Below is the explanation of how I achieved the Gum Bichromate and digital images for my F.I.A

   +                            +  


=

The three images above have been produced separately in their relevant processes and then converted to a digital file. The first image is a contact print in the gum process that is under exposed to enhance the highlights. The second image is over exposed to enhance the shadow area. The third is the negative to bring detail back into the image. All three have been combined using Photoshop layers and layer masks along with the brush tool. Now it is fair to say this could  all have been done within the gum process. Multi layers can be printed on the water colour paper without it degrading. However, as previously stated this takes time  and experience. What the digital files provides is the flexibility to manipulate files.


Conclusion


 The question I posed at the start of this blog entry was can digital technology be considered with the same reverence  as more traditional methods of photography. The image above is my attempt to justify the use of digital technology, as whether it's deemed art is for others to state. I am still not totally convinced that it's right to mix media in this way. Don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly happy with the images I've created for this assignment. Perhaps I'm being to picky,  as doesn't  modern art thinking regard all representation being interpreted as art?

Test 3 Gum Bichromate - Final Integrated Assignmet

Now that I had made a decision on the theme of this final photographic project it was a case of what creative approach to take. Through university I have been exposed to the alternative photography processes. This is something that really intrigues me with the more manual approach to creating imagery. One such process is Gum Bichromate. Invented by Mungo Ponton 1839 when he established the light sensitive properties of dichromates. A little later, Fox Talbot, whilst experimenting with this chemical,l found mixing it with Gum Aribic or gelatine, exposing to sun part of the image became insoluble after washing in water. Both Alphonse Poitevin and John Pouncy further develop this technique in the 1850, by combining carbon pigment and then colour pigment to the chemical, respectively. The distinct appearance of this process was particularly of interest to a new photographic movement - the Pictorialists. This group sought to distance themselves from the growing amateur photographers of the time (1880's). They looked to create imagery rather than just record. The Gum process with its dreamy soft painted look was ideal for this new group of photographers, the major exponents of this process were photographer such as Edward Steichen and Robert Demachy.


The Gum process require a negative that can be contact printed. For this I will be using 5 x 4 negs. First thing to say is I have had no training in the Gum process and when researching the process there are many statements stating that this is a process that can take time to master. Oh well, I'll give it a go. The starting point was to research the process, for this I used Christopher James book, "The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes and Sarah Van Keuren "A Non Silver Manual". The first item that both these authors write about is the hazardous  chemicals that are used in the process. They are not trying to frighten here - far from it. They want to instill caution that one particular chemical 'Potassium Dichromate' if not used properly has some serious side effects. Potassium Dichromate is poisonous and highly allergenic. Safety equipment must be worn which included dust mask, safety glasses, latex gloves and an apron. The below in an extract from Christopher James book on the safety of dichromates.

NOTE: Be cautious in how you handle ammonium or potassium dichromate: It is dangerous and poisonous and highly allergenic. Never put bare skin in contact with any dichromate solution. This chemical can cause lesions on your tender flesh through contact and can damage your lungs by breathing it in its dry state. Be very careful with storage and never leave the chemistry unlabeled or where children can get their hands on it. 

With the above warning at the forefront of my mind I proceed with caution.




The Gum Process comes in two parts: the first is preparation of the paper, the second is the actual printing of the gum process.


Paper Preparation:

You can print on many different substrates and papers using the gum process, but using the experts recommendation I chose to print on Fabriano Artistico water colour paper. The first thing to do is pre shrink the paper, this is done by soaking pre ripped paper in a tray of hot water for 10 minutes. Hang to dry.

The next stage is to size the paper. This allows the colour pigment to attach itself to the substrate. Take one level tablespoon of knox gelatin and sprinkle it on the surface of a glass jug of cold water 250ml. Allow the gelatin to soak up the water - 10 minutes. Heat a double boiler to a temperature to 54 c. Maintain the heat and ensure the gelatin is fully submersed in the water.

Tape the now dried pre shrunk page to a board. When the gelatin is ready paint onto the paper with a sponge brush. Vertical strokes followed by horizontal. Allow to dry before applying a second coat. However, the gelatin must remain at this temperature or it will solidify. The use of a hairdryer speeds up the process at this stage.  Once two coats have been applied leave to dry.

                                 Getting ready for gum printing.




Printing Process




The first part of the gum process is to prepare all the chemicals. The recommendation is to use a 10% potassium dichromate saturated solution. To do this mix 10 gr of potassium dichromate with 100ml of distilled water. Pour into a dark medicine bottle and label correctly.


Now we're ready to print:


Next make a sensitise solution, pour 6ml of gum arabic into a plastic cup, next take your chosen water colour paint or gouache paint and mix between a quarter inch to an inch. Mix thoroughly together

Add 6ml of the pre pared dichromate solution and mix well.

Mark out the image area on the water colour paper to indicated where to paint up to. Paint quickly and lightly in even vertical strokes then horizontally. Work the paint into the paper until it just becomes taken. Allow to dry.

Put the sensitised paper in a contact frame, put a chosen negative emulsion side down onto the paper. Take outside into sun light for exposure. The recommendation for exposure are 2 to 10 in full sun, but this will depend of time of year and cloud cover. The sensitised solution will only react to UV light. This is all a bit trial and error.  You can use a test strip but with changeable condition it can be a bit superfluous. An artificial light can be used and is probably the best way to control exposure.

The next stage is to wash the print, I set up 3 trays of cold water for this purpose. Once the paper is exposed take out of the contact frame and remove the negative. Put the paper exposure into the first tray and rock gently removing the orange dichromate solution. This is roughly 10 minuets. Remove and put in the next tray rock the tray to remove any paint from the image, you can pour water from a jug from a height to aid with this. The third  tray is used if fresh water is required.

Once the image is washed to your liking remove and dry.




Conclusion


As they say the gum bichromate process is very addictive and its one that I will pursue to become competent in. I really like the paint effect that you are able to active. This is just the look I am after for this final project.

The Negatives - Final Integrated Assignment

Following the research into floriography (the language of flowers) I had to find and decide on subjects. Using a list of flowers and their symbolic meaning, I went to the local garden centre to find suitable examples. This is easier said than done, due to the time of year I was limited to the flowers that were in season. However, I just did not want to take any old thing on offer but look for structural beauty in the flower. The flowers that I chose are as follows:


Flower                        Meaning


Carnation (Pink)              A women's love


Cherry Blossom                Gentleness, Kindness


Sunflower                     Pure and lofty thoughts


Daisy                         Innocence, loyal love, faith


Poppy  (red)                  Pleasure


Dandelion                     Coquetry


Ivy                           Dependence, endurance  


Rose (red)                    True Love




When I had obtained the flowers for the project I had to decide how best to capture the best structural beauty. By using the research I had completed over the three years of my course I was able to narrow my decision down. As described in a previous blog I had admired the work of Nick Nights Flora, but other have also made an impression, such as Irving Penn's book Still Life along with Imogen Cunningham's Flora. However, in the first year I was shown images of Karl Blossfeldt's flowers in art history lessons. As soon as I first set eyes on his images I was blown away. When asked to write about two photographers I  had an opportunity to further research his work further along with Bernd and Hilla Becher. It was Blossfeldt simple but effect way of using macro photography, window lighting and plain backgrounds that have always caught my attention. There something simple but beautiful about his photography.


With this in mind I decided on a large format (due to contact printing) macro photograph. The flowers I had chosen lent themselves to a top view (apart from ivy and rose). I had in the past (Professional Practice assignment) used a lighting technique from John Blakemore, where he used window light and angled his camera and subject to be in a perfect plain. I have really been pleased with the images I had taken using Blakemore's technique and so would utilise it again.

Large format photography is straight forward enough as long as you follow some simple rules. Always take a light meter reading and then its a case of adding or subtracting stop for the best exposure. With macro photography on a large format camera you normally have extended bellows. The rule of thumb is to allow an extra stop of light for each 6 to 8 inches of bellow draw. The image above needed 2 extra stops of light to provide a well exposed negative. By using this light technique and exposure calculation the images below were captured:

Sunflower

Cherry Blossom

Poppy

Carnation

Dandelion

Ivy

Rose

Conclusion

I am really happy with the images  captured. The negatives should contact print well in the gum bichromate process. I chose these examples for a couple of reasons. I had taken pictures of some of the samples in the different stages of full bloom to decay. Some examples have a bit more character if left to decay a little such as the sunflower and the poppy. Others I have dried such as the ivy. The rose was already dried which inspired the ivy shot.