[Alt-photo] try one

[Matti Koskinen]

hi,

here's the first try on my way to someday do real photogravure: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91329867@N06/

I saw in the opening of our annual exhibition a real intaglio, and 
developing the idea, how could I do in a cheap way photogravures, I 
tried with what I had. First a photo of my son's cousin, at the age of 
5. I knew a way of making printed circuit boards with laser printer, so 
I googled a bit. I made crude halftone by converting to bitmap in PS, 
and printed on a transparency. Then it took two days and two nights to 
find suitable curve and temperature and heating. The toner on the 
transparency is transferred to the copper side of a PCB with cloth iron, 
by heating thru a sheet of paper the transparency placed on copper. 
Pressing the iron, and slightly moving it, I finally (sort of) succeeded 
in getting the toner on the copper. Then the PCB was etched in ferric 
chloride, washed and dried. When looking at a suitable angle, the photo 
is visible.

First I thought of the UV-laquer, but mine had expired in 11/1995, so I 
tried this direct laser method. My ferric chloride and the pieces of PCB 
are from the same era. Ferric chloride was really exhausted, it took 
something between two to three hours to get all the visible copper off. 
As I did the etching outside, because ferric chloride stains everything 
badly, the dish I used was not on level, and  having very little of 
etchant, the result is not even. But yesterday she had her 15th 
birthday, and was really delighted of my gift, this try.

Our art collective has the press for making intaglios, so I need to get 
a sheet of copper plus other things, and hone my technique, to get the 
image right and then everything else, to do an intaglio.

best

-matti