Re: Direct Carbon PHOTOGRAPHY Wise

John,

I will attempt to answer your questions but please feel free to contact me
off-line if I missed the mark.

My opinion of digital bromoil would be the same as digital Fresson . . .
what's your point? If you want an inkjet or rather a pigment print, that's
great as they can be very attractive as a straight photograph as well as an
interpreted graphic when modified by the various effects possible in
Photoshop. If you like the looks of an inkjet print processed with the soon
to be released Rembrandt 'Night Watch' Photoshop filter well have at it, but
you might take a trip Amsterdam to catch a glimpse of the original painting
before day dreaming about future revenue.

Speaking of disclosing information, I have presented/shared my work at three
different APIS meeting over the past 8 years. My printing process is made
possible through the unique characteristics of a colloidal mixture of gum
arabic and gelatin. Reference US patent 5,215,837 for specific formula(and a
surefire cure for insomnia), example one can provide good results but keep in
mind that I will defend my patent rights for any commercial application.
Furthermore, in a period of time when I was unable to test/print I satisfied
my photographic appetite through having analytical testing done on samples of
original Fresson printing papers (as furnished by Bill Foster who had saved
it from when he was an active Fresson printer) as well as Fresson monochrome
and color prints. Though my patent had already been issued, I was keenly
interested in determining if I had truly discovered the Fresson secret
process. The testing performed includes Optical Microscopy, Electron
Microscopy (Cambridge S360 Scanning Electron Microscope SEM), Elemental
Microanalysis (Link eXL Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer EDX), Infrared
Spectroscopy (Mattson 5020 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer FTIR), and
Protein Identification (Amino Acid Profile by Acid Hydrolysis - classical
ninhyroid post column). Those tests confirm that the Fresson chemistry
utilizes the same gum arabic and gelatin mixture as I had discovered. Hang
onto your hat as this still doesn't give the store away . . . the process is
VERY physical in nature and the exact Fresson coating process and method is an
ongoing Fresson secret. In short, if you want a Fresson print there is only
one place to go and that’s to the Fresson workshop located on the outskirts of
Paris.

As to the development process for Fresson, this was widely known as anyone who
purchased Fresson paper in the pre-WWII era would have used it. It is not a
secret that Echague published as it seems to come across in your note. The
directions to develop Fresson paper (converted to Fahrenheit) are as follows:
     1. Cool Soak - 30 to 60 seconds in a tray of water at about 70°F to wet
        the paper
     2. Warm soak varies as follows:
          Flat/low contrast negative = 87.8°F for .33 minutes
          Normal contrast negative = 84.2°F for .75 minutes
          High contrast negative = 80.6°F for 1.5 to 2 minutes
     3. Abrasion develop by pouring an ambient water sawdust slurry over the
        face of the print. Local control is possible by directing the mixture
        to further develop or under-develop areas as desired.
My own ‘standard’ development is a 1 minute cool soak and then a 1 minute warm
soak at 84°F followed by the sawdust slurry treatment. Total development time
for a 9x12 print is typically less than five minutes. One noteworthy item is
that unlike many photographic processes this one is free of odor and
furthermore is just plain fun . . . sort of a throw back to childhood sandbox
activities. Lastly, the development room of the Fresson workshop is set up to
perform the described procedure.

I hope this answered your questions.

Sincerely, Art

P.S. As to the "Business Wise" of direct carbon . . . I believe we may have
opposing views as to the location of this dog’s body and tail. Alternative
printing is a minuscule portion of the photographic marketplace and the pot at
the end of the rainbow might be different from what you imagine. Try this on
for size . . . alternative photographic printing processes should be preserved
for their beauty!

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 04:38:32 -0400 (EDT), Grafist wrote
> In a message dated 31/07/05 16:52:45 GMT Daylight Time,
> achakali@wideopenwest.com writes:
>
> > John,
> >
> > I will attempt to answer your questions. Please feel free to contact me
> > off-line if I missed the mark.
> ................................................
> Art, Thank you so much for spending the time to discuss some of the
> Direct Carbon and Fresson issues. Over the past ten years, or so,
> there have been many postings on this list regarding the historical,
> technical and aesthetic aspects. I think it must be one of the most
> long standing subjects together with GUM, of course. Judy's Post
> Factory No 9 issue on Fresson has an historic value which would be
> difficult to surpass in its comprehensiveness. But there surely must
> be more ongoing work being done by students of photographic printing
> which will widen the picture even more over the coming years whether
> or not there is a digital link. I recently heard about something
> called ''digital bromoil'' and thought it must be a joke. It was
> bromoil technique simulated by software. Digital Fresson? Why not?
> I will contact you ''off list'' if the subject
> becomes private or involved with personal financial business matters,
> but as regards dialogue concerning processing I am sure many
> readers would be interested to learn more about the social
> connections we have made during our search for information and the
> leads which have helped us in our research. Bill
> Foster knew and had met Echague way back but inspite of their close
> relationship apparently never acquired any cutting edge infomation
> from him on processing. Echague was extremely wealthy and successful
> with many publications of his images of Spanish life origionally
> made using the Fresson process. However, Echague
> did publish an outline of his working methods using Fresson paper
> and sawdust to develop and this has been very useful to me in my
> experimenting with Direct Carbon techniques. I can provide a brief
> resume if anyone would be interested through a future posting
> depending on the reaction of list members to this offer.
> Business wise the way ahead is not clear. As you say, much
> money and effort is needed to make the whole thing work viably and
> commercially. Personally, I am not in a position to give away free
> the results of thousands of hours of painstaking testing only to
> hear further down the road that someone is marketing a product
> based on my research. This is why I do not wish to patent my
> findings which would make the critical information available to
> public investigation. What I discovered in
> the formulation of the process was totally new in concept to
> anything which I had read in publications of formulae. In fact, as
> with Artigue, it was an accident while experimenting with known
> recipes which gave the clue to further work which gave me the final method.
> Again, Judy's article in PF No. 9 contains
> most of what I am refering to. I would suggest to anyone who
> seriously wants to devote several hundred hours to Direct Carbon
> research, to obtain a copy. Thanks again, Judy !
> The quest goes on.
> Cheers John- photographist

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