U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: My first platinum-palladium over gold leaf prints

Re: My first platinum-palladium over gold leaf prints



Hi Dan -- they're marvelous, really thrilling. My favorite (of course we have to have favorites) is the first one: the parking meters ! That's, first, because it's beautiful, but also because we don't *know* it's beautiful until we see your print. (After all, we know that butterflies and the Flatiron, bats in the field etc., are -- or ought to be -- beautiful. Who knew parking meters?)

So when I read your comment that you're trying to figure out what looks good in this process, I think... well, maybe even a genius doesn't know until s/he sees it. Although (ouch!) it must be expensive to do, it's cruel to rule anything out in advance.

In any event thank you. And to all who haven't seen it, you must. (Plus 3 cheers to Camino --- it took me there on the first click.)

Judy

On Sat, 9 Feb 2008, Dan Burkholder wrote:


This evening I finally photographed the first group of platinum/palladium over gold leaf prints. I've printed more than the nine on this site but these are the most successful to date. After doing a lot of inkjet printing over the past couple years, it felt very refreshing to be involved with handmade processes once again. In some way, this work is almost a rebellion to the direction most photography is taking. The prints are small (4"x6" up to 5.5"x8.5"), unlike the trend to giantism that the medium is experiencing. I also wanted to make prints with a look and feel unlike anything we can produce with an inkjet printer.

I started testing different vellums and sizes in December and am starting to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. The harder issue (for me at least) is learning what type of images work well in this combination and which don't. It's like all of photography; the "why's" are always more difficult than the "how's."

The images themselves are a mix of old and new, taking some years-old images that are favorites along with new work from our new home in upstate New York and exploring the print impact with the gold. The "Flatiron in Spring, New York" image is my first effort at bimetal gilding. The Flatiron is in palladium leaf and the rest of the print is in 24K gold. I'm eager to do more of this Au/Pd leafing. I gotta admit that there's something fun about making prints in which the final image is comprised of three precious metals, all of which are completely insensitive to light. ;^)

I will be out of pocket for a couple of days and won't be able to reply very promptly to questions or comments.

Thanks for looking here:

www.DanBurkholder.com/gold

Dan

info@DanBurkholder.com
www.DanBurkholder.com