The 19th century was undoubtedly the most stormy and dynamic age in the history of photography. It was not just the century when photography was invented but above all the time when nearly all the photochemical processes ever used in photography were invented. It was the period during which photography covered the unimaginable distance from the daguerreotype developed in mercury vapours and the paper negative to the silver gelatine photographic film on elastic substrates and the first roll films. In the first few decades of photography, countless materials including not only silver but also iron, chromium or….. bitumen of Judea were tested in the search for the best materials and technologies to . Even though photographs were successfully made with the use of each of the above and processes such as the cyanotype, the platinotype, the oilprint, gum bichromate or carbon transfer enjoyed a considerable career and are used by artists till this day, it was silver that proved the absolute winner and its salts have been used in all of the most popular photographic processes not only of those days but also of the twentieth century when the dominance of silver based photography became absolute. This is why the longest and most intensive workshop I offer is devoted to photographic processes using silver. During the six days three participants will have a one of time opportunity not only to observe the development of photography from the talbotype until the development of photographic emulsions but will, above all, have an opportunity to gain an in depth understanding of all the leading processes of that time as well as to...
The first print making technique ever was the saltprint, and the albumen print was the first technique that made a real, industrial scale career dominating photography for dozens of years. Suffice it to say, that just one factory making albumenized paper used seventy thousand eggs per day. Both techniques may seem to be simple , in reality, however, it requires considerable knowledge and care in order to get the best results, especially if we aim at full control over the contrast and colour of the print. We offer a two day practical workshop during which we will not only learn to make salt and albumen prints, but also the more advanced elements of both processes. We will learn a variety of recipies including arrowroot paper and mat albumen, to control the print contrast and use a variety of toners. During the workshop we will learn to: Prepare matt and glossy albumenized paper using a variety of recipes, prepare salted paper using different recipes and sizes, increase the image contrast, sensitize the albumenized paper and the salted paper, expose and process the prints, prepare negatives for both processes (both large format and digital negatives), tone the prints, prepare the images for presentation in a conservator friendly, archival way. We also provide an opportunity to print your own negatives (including printing negatives from your own digital files) and to prepare photos in our studio should you wish to do so. The following will be provided for all the participants: materials necessary for salt and albumen printing including toners, papers appropriate for the techniques, albumenized papers, all necessary tools, UV light sources, practice negatives, a...
Recent Comments