[Alt-photo] Re: 7 Month 25 Day Solargraph Exposure

Sat May 4 01:03:15 UTC 2013

This is revelatory in a tremendously fun way. Thanks for your gracious notes and open
dialogue. It follows pretty much what I'd thought but I thought the end product somehow 
was what we saw.
It slightly reminds of Dr. Levi Hill when he was trying to make color in his imagery a reality
a hundred and sixty years ago. There's also a link, for me at least, to the work Denny Moers
has done through not fixing but using a stop to eliminate the developer and allowing light
to subject the b/w paper to changes that result in color depending upon the time one leaves
it in light.
Thanks.
Jack

On May 3, 2013, at 5:16 PM, Francesco Fragomeni <fdfragomeni at gmail.com> wrote:

> Jack, I'm unsure what you mean by "did I look at it?" Kurt explained it
> well. You just make pinhole and set it up somewhere for an extended period
> of time undisturbed. Once the exposure is complete (you decide this
> whenever you want) and the camera is retrieved, you take out the exposed
> paper (on which there will be a very faint printed out color negative
> image) and scan it (using no pre-scan). You cannot develop or fix the paper
> so the process is a genuine hybrid process requiring both analog and
> digital workflows to complete. Once scanned, you treat it like any other
> scanned image. As to how long the original will last, I found that a few
> hours passed with it in a light room before I could see any visible
> difference with the naked eye but I'm sure that a measurable difference
> could be found immediately after the scan.
> 
> -Francesco
> 
> 
> On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 5:03 PM, Kurt Nagy <kakarott76 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> With Solargraphy you essentially setup a pinhole camera in a location
>> (usually facing the sun so you can record it's path) and the come get it
>> after several months (upwards of 6+months).
>> 
>> Opening up or checking your exposure will ruin the process much the same
>> as it would just taking photo paper out of the package.
>> 
>> Also the image can never really be fixed as it will bleach out the print.
>> Exposure to further light will also degrade the image (even the scanner
>> light)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On May 3, 2013, at 6:40 PM, Jack Fulton <jefulton1 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> . . . . and, Francesco, did, at any time during this long exposure, di
>> you look at it?
>>> Secondly, how did you finalize the process?
>>> Thanks
>>> Jack
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On May 3, 2013, at 4:20 PM, Francesco Fragomeni <fdfragomeni at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Just a standard pinhole poked with the tip of a pin into a piece of
>>>> aluminum weather proofing tape. No attempt was made to make the hole any
>>>> smaller then it would be for a normal pinhole as the diameter of the
>> hole
>>>> and subsequent exposure measurements don't matter with solargraph
>>>> exposures. The phenomenon occurs because of drastic overexposure. You
>> just
>>>> set the thing up and wait however long you want to wait. The beauty of
>> this
>>>> is that there is essentially no such thing as a wrong exposure.
>>>> 
>>>> -Francesco
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 4:07 PM, Jack Fulton <jefulton1 at comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Indeed, the whole thing is a curious phenomenon and is linked to the
>> Lumen
>>>>> prints I'd guess.
>>>>> The colors are what surprised me. So, if the exposure was for 7 months,
>>>>> the entrance hole
>>>>> must've been extremely small. Do you know how you made it or what the
>> size
>>>>> was?
>>>>> Jack
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On May 3, 2013, at 2:34 PM, Francesco Fragomeni <fdfragomeni at gmail.com
>>> 
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> It was made with photo-paper. I'm actually unsure what paper it was
>>>>> exactly
>>>>>> as I pulled it out of a mixed box of old loose paper scrap that I'd
>>>>>> collected so it could be anything. I wasn't convinced that it would
>>>>>> actually work so I didn't spend much time thinking about it. That's a
>>>>> shame
>>>>>> now as I'd like to know exactly what paper it was too. I can tell you
>>>>> that
>>>>>> it was RC but that's about it.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -Francesco
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Ravene at gmail.com <ravene at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I''m curious... Was that photo paper or film? Also what kind?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> It seems similar to the changes that happen with lumen prints?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On May 3, 2013, at 8:06 AM, Francesco Fragomeni <
>> fdfragomeni at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hi George,
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> The actual color negative was quite faint but after scanning and
>> then
>>>>>>>> inverting and applying basic auto contrast and auto color in
>> Photoshop,
>>>>>>>> that's what was produced. I was quite surprised with the level of
>> color
>>>>>>>> accuracy.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> -Francesco
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 3:27 AM, George L Smyth <glsmyth at yahoo.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Francesco -
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Very cool, I don't know that I have seen a solargraph with those
>>>>>>>>> particular colors before.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Cheers -
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> george
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> --------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>> Bromoil: http://GeorgeSmyth.com
>>>>>>>>> Handmade Photographic Images: http://www.GLSmyth.com
>>>>>>>>> Blog: http://GLSmyth.wordpress.com
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> --- On Sun, 4/28/13, Francesco Fragomeni <fdfragomeni at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> From: Francesco Fragomeni <fdfragomeni at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>>> Subject: [Alt-photo] 7 Month 25 Day Solargraph Exposure
>>>>>>>>>> To: "The alternative photographic processes mailing list" <
>>>>>>>>> alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
>>>>>>>>>> Date: Sunday, April 28, 2013, 1:33 PM
>>>>>>>>>> Thought some here might find this
>>>>>>>>>> interesting. I'd read some things about
>>>>>>>>>> solargraphy a while back and late last year I decided to
>>>>>>>>>> give it a try. It
>>>>>>>>>> was successful so now I plan to use it for a project that I
>>>>>>>>>> have in mind.
>>>>>>>>>> Exciting stuff.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Here is a link to my newly finished solargraph. For those
>>>>>>>>>> who don't know,
>>>>>>>>>> this is a type of pinhole photograph created via an
>>>>>>>>>> ultra-long exposure. In
>>>>>>>>>> this case, the exposure lasted 7 months and 25 days from
>>>>>>>>>> September 2, 2012
>>>>>>>>>> to April 27, 2013. The camera survived and recorded through
>>>>>>>>>> Hurricane
>>>>>>>>>> Sandy, which despite causing tens of billions of dollars in
>>>>>>>>>> damage across
>>>>>>>>>> New York state, lasted for such a short duration of the
>>>>>>>>>> exposure that
>>>>>>>>>> virtually no sign of the storm can be seen. What's
>>>>>>>>>> remarkable is that a
>>>>>>>>>> printed-out color negative is produced by B&W silver-gel
>>>>>>>>>> paper. As I
>>>>>>>>>> understand it, the bromide in the paper under a change due
>>>>>>>>>> to the extreme
>>>>>>>>>> over-exposure which produces a color image.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> http://www.francescofragomeni.com/solargraphy/
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Francesco Fragomeni
>>>>>>>>>> www.francescofragomeni.com
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