Re: lumenprints not chromo?
Gregg,
Thanks for posting about all the stuff, below. Will use the links in the
fall when teaching pinhole again...
Please let us know about the fix and pinhole. 6 month exposures???? Wow.
The student doing a 2 week indoor one was blown away enough. He couldn't
even get a semester grade if he went to 6 months :) Perhaps pinhole is too
weak of a light to expose the paper enough to make it stay after fixing,
within reasonable exposure times?
Maybe I could bolt my pinhole to my deck outside and just leave paper in it
over the summer and see what happens. You have totally inspired me. I'd
have to waterproof my camera somehow...
Chris
__________________
Christina Z. Anderson
http://christinaZanderson.com/
__________________
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregg Kemp" <gregg.kemp@gmail.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 8:13 AM
Subject: Re: lumenprints not chromo?
Chris, thanks for putting the images back up. I love the color ones
can get out of b&w paper.
As far as doing this with pinhole, I have been doing 6 month exposures
for the last couple of years. I have never tried to fix one of these,
but since I have already scanned them all, I could certainly put them
in a fixer to see how they do. The tests I have done with fixer was
using Arista fixer on exposures of only a few days and those are the
ones the images disappeared on. I was using Arista grade 2 paper
then, but now trying several warm-tone papers (Kentmere and Foma). So
I'll try to fix some of my 6-month ones to see what happens.
For anyone interested and doesn't know these sites below, they provide
information and examples of pinhole "solargraphs" or "solarigraphs"
which is a name being used to describe the lumen prints process in a
pinhole camera.
http://www.solargraphy.com/
This is Tarja Trygg's web site for her global solargraph project. She
sends out hundreds of pinhole cameras made from film canisters and pre-
loaded with paper each year to her "helpers" to make 3 - 6 month
solargraphs.
http://free.art.pl/solaris/solaris/Gallery.html
The Solaris project is an early exploration of this technique in 2000.
Some current practitioners:
http://web.mac.com/diegolopezcalvin/solarigrafia.com/Introducción_Solarigrafia.html
(Diego Lopez Calvin)
http://www.pinholephotography.org/ (Justin Quinnell in England)
http://greggkemp.com/simpleviewer/solar-pinhole/ (my own)
- Gregg
On May 6, 2009, at 7:05 PM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
Gregg, here it is:
http://christinaanderson.visualserver.com/Text_page.cfm?pID=2448
and I left you a message there :) Apparently I had removed the image
already and didn't remember.
What I find with lumenprints is when the students first do them, they
assume that the process moves faster than it does and then end up fixing
it way before it is exposed enough. That first try, there will be
students whose prints "disappear". Then they put the next print outside
in the morning and leave it (incredulously to them) all day, go to
school, come home, eat dinner, watch TV, take a bath, and that's when it
is successful.
How this time amount translates to pinhole is the big question. No matter
what you do, the fix changes the colors. But if exposed long enough, the
image doesn't disappear. But to equate an all day exposure outside full
sun to get the same color that stays for a pinhole exposure, that is the
question. How does one compute an equivalent exposure to a 6 hr no focal
length to a 90 day huge focal length??? And then add to that using
warmtone paper which gives the wonderful pinks and terracottas, and that
is even slower....although Ilford warmtone is pretty fast.
One of my students did a 2 week indoors exposure which was faint yellow
only....after fixing.
This really is the incredible benefit to teaching is having 18 "testees"
at one time on a process. This week was Blurb book critique and I have
15 blurb books awaiting me with all KINDS of problems (and successes!) to
learn from!
Chris
__________________
Christina Z. Anderson
http://christinaZanderson.com/
__________________
----- Original Message ----- From: "Gregg Kemp" <gregg.kemp@gmail.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: lumenprints not chromo?
My attempts at using fixer with similar multi-day pinhole exposures
resulted in the image pretty much disappearing off the paper. I used
Arista fixer at normal strength and diluted as much as 1:20, but always
lost most of the image. Perhaps a different fixer would work better?
I also had problems scanning at first, but that may just be my scanner
(an Epson 3200). I found that if I scanned a 5x7 negative at more than
600 dpi, the scanner would pause during the scan. And the scan would
show a slight darkening after the pause. So I now scan at 600 dpi.
But perhaps a scanner with more memory or more memory on my computer
would not do this. My suggestion is to scan a plain piece of paper at
the resolution you plan to use before scanning the actual negative,
just to be safe. I also put a piece of black felt behind the negative
before scanning, in hopes of keeping down the amount of light bouncing
around - just superstition perhaps.
Chris - I looked for the student work on your website that you
mentioned, but didn't find it. Would you please post the URL?
Gregg
On May 6, 2009, at 3:03 PM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
Scott,
I always fix mine. There is a noticeable loss of density and color
shift in the fix. I also know that Jerry Burchfield who does all
those Amazon exposures brings all images back in a black plastic bag
to the States and fixes at one time. Unless he has changed his process
in the last couple years, all of his previous lumenprints were fixed
and I have never heard of not fixing before...however, the idea to
scan before fixing is a great one and then you get a two-
for-the-price-of-one special.
My prints do not fade once fixed and archivally washed and treated as
if a normal BW print. You can see student examples on my website, and
see how brilliant they are--with fixing.
Re: scanning. I would find it shocking that a 90 day pinhole
exposure lumenprint (chromo is a different process entirely because it
uses darkroom chemistry, developer, activator, stabilizer) that will
never touch the developer but go straight into the fix, would be
affected by a one minute scan.
You will also notice a distinct color shift when dry prints are
rewetted. But then it reverts again when dry.
Chris
__________________
Christina Z. Anderson
http://christinaZanderson.com/
__________________
----- Original Message ----- From: "Weber, Scott B"
<sweber@mail.barry.edu
>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 12:06 PM
Just completed a 90 day pinhole exposure on gelatin silver paper.
Chromoscedasic print. The image looks good, but do I fix this? Maybe
some thiosulfate? Or should I leave it? My plan is to scan it but
will the light in the scanner affect the image?
Scott B. Weber
Associate Professor of Photography
Department of Fine Arts
Barry University
Miami Shores, Florida
305 899 4922
sweber@mail.barry.edu