Re: Now it is up! (Hand collotype in process)
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009, Tsuyoshi Ito wrote: Hi everyone,I think maybe there were spoken descriptions that my primitive (practically analog) system didn't get... tho I found the "animation" charming. Also shocking ... because in the opening "scene" and most thereafter, there were these nice young fellows putting their hands in the vat of whatever.... without gloves ! Sometimes no doubt this was simply a sizing or other innocuous material... but still, "chrome" as in "biochromate," is one of the two most allergenic substances to humans (the other being turpentine). And the basis of this process (according to my 1913 "Cassell's Cyclopedia of Phoography") is "bichromated gelatin." In one brief scene, a different character is wearing a sturdy pair of gloves, but that's not enough. Traces of "chrome" will pervade the premises and (depending on the host) can well in time do their thing... Why put your future at risk? (I once had a student who went into anaphylactic shock in a silk screen class, with one coating of something bichromate-ish. That wasn't my class, but she also -- very sensibly -- left my class as well.) I have read in photo journals of the early 20th century, that you used to be able to actually read the originals of in the Photo Annex of the NY Public Library, of the torments of workers with these materials before the cause was known... And now, in 2009, this very seductive scene on youtube could also be hazardous to your health. (A box of 100 or so disposable gloves costs about $6. Tho maybe real men don't wear gloves?) Whatever, Judy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNRo5AomkXM Warmly, Tsuyoshi
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