Bill,
Let me attempt an answer. I feel qualified since I learned most of the
alternative processes by myself and even helped invent one. What follows
are my opinions. There will no doubt be several people on this list who will
disagree and offer other advise. Let me also start by saying that I used to
teach photography to both college science majors and art majors. I taught
some alternative process
printing to art majors. There are a number of people on this like who have
done likewise. OK, that's
the introduction.
There are several books out there you would find very helpful but my
first choice for you would be, "Keepers of Light." This book gives you much
more than just an instruction manual but it is that also. This book will
give you guidence on negative preperation and coating paper with sensitizer
and these are two extremely important things that you must master in order
to be successful at alternative process printing.
I used to start my students with cyanotype for many reasons. First, it
is inexpensive; second, it is relatively non-toxic; third, it is easy to
know when you have the correct exposure; fourth, it has a
long tonal range very similar to platinum and kallitype; fifth, the
sensitizer will keep for a long time and finally sixth, the developer is
water. You can put cyanotype on anything, such as, paper, natural fiber
cloth, ceramic, wood, etc so long as there is no alkali in the base.
If you can master cyanotype, you can be assured that you will be able to
master platinotype, kallitype, van dyke brown, and chrysotype. Gum prints
are a little more difficult and, for that matter,
so are platinum prints so save those until last unless you feel very
confident. Don't let someone talk
you into starting with a more difficult process like gum because there are
simply more ways to
goof up with gum than with cyanotype and more opinions about how to do gum
than cyanotype.
Platinotype and crysotype are very expensive processes and use much more
toxic chemical s than cyanotype. Better to learn the fundamentals with the
inexpensive and low toxicity cyanotype.
"Keepers of Light" is not perfect and there are some errors but it is
mostly accurate. (for example, it is not necessary to use a "Bug light" ---
a small low wattage incandescent lamp will work and is more desirable
because you will be able to see you coating more easily).
Final thought. Read first and reread and read agin untill you are sure
you understand what the
author is saying. You can use this list to ask questions but you are likely
to get more answers than you wanted. ;-)
Bob Schramm
Check out my web page at:
<br><br><br>>From: Bill King
<bill@billkingphoto.com><br>>Reply-To:
alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca<br>>To:
alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca<br>>Subject: Learning a new
process<br>>Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 19:33:38 -0700<br>><br>>I've
been struggling with my notions of photography, art, and craft over
the<br>>past few years, and I would love to ask the list for some
advice.<br>><br>>Looking over the pictures I've taken over the past
ten years, I can see an<br>>evolution of style and technique. My early
photographs showed glimmers of<br>>originality, but those glimmers were
usually overcome by technical issues<br>>(learning how film sees
differently from my eyes) and too heavy an influence<br>>of David Muench.
Many pictures were well-lit, well-composed, perhaps even<br>>lovely,
but they were not art. They were all-too-often copies of others'<br>>art
or style.<br>><br>>Since 2002, I've really struggled to take pictures;
I've been doing battle<br>>with the dreaded Block. My photos have felt
emptier and emptier. I have<br>>felt like I wasn't expressing myself, my
own vision, my own sense of<br>>emotion. I have felt too removed from
the final product - as though I was<br>>capturing something rather than
creating it. I guess I've felt distanced<br>>from both art (expressing
my personal vision) and craft (the process
of<br>>creation).<br>><br>>And so I basically began reading in
place of creating. I read books about<br>>philosophy, art, photography,
woodworking, ceramics, pottery, the craft of<br>>writing, etc., etc.
Perhaps the break from shooting cliches and the<br>>exposure to so many
different sources helped further my notions of art and<br>>craft.
Certainly, I feel now that I have a much better idea of what
I'm<br>>trying to accomplish - I have a much better sense of what I'm
trying to<br>>communicate and display in my work now.<br>><br>>So
over the past few months, I've had the camera out a little more
often,<br>>and I'm feeling much better about what I'm capturing.
Artistically, I'm<br>>feeling like I've been making some progress. But
yet it still seems a bit<br>>on the empty side. I guess I still feel
like I'm missing the notion of<br>>craft in my photography. I want to
shape and knead these captured images<br>>into beautiful prints that have
the essence, and texture, and richness of my<br>>imagination, but I do
not have the skills or training to do this. I want to<br>>put my imprint
on the final product, and I'm feeling wholly unsatisfied<br>>watching the
final product roll off an inkjet printer.<br>><br>>So my rather
simplistic sounding question is this: how do you recommend<br>>learning
an alt-photo process from scratch? From what I can tell,
gum<br>>printing looks like it would be a great way to begin realizing
the visions<br>>in my head. I have lots of reading material about gums,
and certainly this<br>>list is a great resource, and I have a decent
intellectual notion about how<br>>to accomplish it, but I'm wondering
where to make the next step - the step<br>>to take
action.<br>><br>>Unlike learning to draw, it's hard to run over to the
local community<br>>college and take a class on gum printing. I'm not
aware of anyone in my<br>>area doing gum printing. So, it's a big
outlay, but do I just buy a Nu-Arc,<br>>nice scale, good paints, paper,
chemicals, gum, etc. and go at it on my own?<br>>Would this be a little
too risky, a little too unsupported? Or might it be<br>>the most
rewarding way to go about it? Would I be best served by traveling<br>>to
a workshop or two to get me started? Are there mentors to be found?
(I<br>>live in Northern Arizona.) Should I find a BFA/MFA program, where
I could a<br>>find a mentor and immerse myself in art and craft for a few
years?<br>><br>>I know that this is a rather personal question, and I
apologize if it's<br>>unanswerable. I've been feeling a bit stuck and I
thought perhaps throwing<br>>my question out to a wider audience might
help. Thanks for helping the<br>>artist and craftsperson in me
emerge.<br>><br>>Bill<br>><br>><br>><br>
Received on Sun Aug 14 20:27:01 2005
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