[alt-photo] Re: Collodion POP/ Collodio-Chloride/ Collodion Aristotype Paper - Instructions, Books, Resources?

[Clarence Rhymer]

Hello Francesco,

Collodion POP is fairly straightforward.  May I offer a few hints:

When adding the alcohol to the silver solution in step "D", add the 
alcohol a bit at a time with stirring.  If one adds the alcohol at one 
go, the silver nitrate will probably precipitate out.
When adding the silver nitrate solution to the salted Collodion, slow 
addition and thorough mixing will yield a better result.  One can use 
the syringe method while stirring the Collodion or the addition of small 
volumes at a time of silver solution with vigorous mixing/shaking after 
each addition.  Either should result in a suspension of silver chloride 
in Collodion that will be stable for quite a long time.
The final mixture is not particularly sensitive to low level tungsten 
light, so mixing and pouring do not require a safe light.  A sixty watt 
tungsten bulb is fine and makes it easier to see what you are doing, as 
long as there is no fluorescent light or daylight in the room.  However, 
the suspension should be stored in complete darkness long-term.The 
coated unexposed paper has good long-term stability in the dark.When 
rinsing the paper after exposure, it is important to make sure that the 
wash water is *warm *and has some chloride content, or the rinse will 
take a very long time indeed.Poorly rinsed paper will not tone 
properly.  Remember, Collodion was used as a barrier, and is rather 
resistant to letting water or chemicals through the surface.

I find that baryta paper (the type used by Harmon, etc. for silver 
gelatin paper) is the best support for Collodion POP.  The ink-jet 
variety of baryta is manufactured to achieve different goals. However, 
some types may work.Arrowroot sized Strathmore 300 works, as does Yupo 
(no sizing required).

Finally, I can't stress enough how useful a workshop or tutorial with 
Mark Osterman, France Scully, or Ron Mowrey would be.Not only will you 
get excellent instruction and hands-on experience in the process at 
hand, but you will have access to their encyclopaedicknowledge of the 
history and practice of photographic processes from Niépce to the 
present, and a framework in which to place the diverse processes 
historically, scientifically, economically and socially.

You will also discover the various ways that processes like wet-plate 
Collodion were adapted (later to be abandoned) to achieve the goals that 
were later realized by silver-gelatin.

If you can only acquire one book, /Alternative Photographic Processes/ 
by Christopher James (as others have also recommended) is the book you 
need.I have both editions, but prefer and recommend the second, although 
IIRC it doesn't cover Collodion POP - I'd have to look.

As to substituting Collodion for gelatin to make an azo type emulsion, 
remember that the formation, shape, location, etc. etc. etc.  of silver 
halide crystals in gelatin is a very different animal to the suspension 
of silver chloride in collodion.  Where to start, what to say next, how 
to end?  Perhaps read Haist, talk to Ron, better still, save yourself 
some time and money and take one of the workshops.  Unless I am 
mistaken, the silver gelatin azo emulsion that Ron makes is contact 
speed, but not a POP, although of course one can use many contact and 
even enlarging papers to Print Out rather than Develop Out.  The reverse 
is not necessarily true.

If it is a POP you are looking for, Collodion works very well, uses 
*very little silver*, and is, dare I say, archival on a good support.  
The results are remarkable.

Cheers,

Clarence Rhymer
Fort Smith, NT
Canada



On 29/05/2012 10:37 AM, Francesco Fragomeni wrote:
> H Dan,
>
> Thats actually the same article I posted above. I've talked to Mark about
> the workshop and I'd love to make it if time permitted but I'm also
> interested in starting straight away rather then waiting. I'm excited to
> try this out. I've got a few potential experiments almost ready to start :)
>
> -Francesco
>
>
>