August 2005 Alt-Photo-Process-L: Re: Learning a new process-repl

From: Susan Huber ^lt;shuber@ssisland.com>
Date: 08/15/05-06:23:20 AM Z
Message-id: <001a01c5a194$20301160$1d9dc8cf@ownereb7xeo44n>

Hello all,
I would also highly reccommend the book by Christopher James for a more
current view of the alternative photographic processes. The book is titled;
Alternative Photographic Processes, it is published by Delmar in 2002 (I
believe)- it is a very goo book- full of ideas.
Susan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert W. Schramm" <schrammrus@hotmail.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2005 7:26 PM
Subject: RE: Learning a new process-reply

> 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:
>
> http://www.SchrammStudio.com
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: Bill King
> <bill@billkingphoto.com> >Reply-To:
> alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca >To:
> alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca >Subject: Learning a new
> process >Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 19:33:38 -0700 > >I've
> been struggling with my notions of photography, art, and craft over
> the >past few years, and I would love to ask the list for some
> advice. > >Looking over the pictures I've taken over the past
> ten years, I can see an >evolution of style and technique. My early
> photographs showed glimmers of >originality, but those glimmers were
> usually overcome by technical issues >(learning how film sees
> differently from my eyes) and too heavy an influence >of David
Muench.
> Many pictures were well-lit, well-composed, perhaps even >lovely,
> but they were not art. They were all-too-often copies of
others' >art
> or style. > >Since 2002, I've really struggled to take
pictures;
> I've been doing battle >with the dreaded Block. My photos have felt
> emptier and emptier. I have >felt like I wasn't expressing myself,
my
> own vision, my own sense of >emotion. I have felt too removed from
> the final product - as though I was >capturing something rather than
> creating it. I guess I've felt distanced >from both art (expressing
> my personal vision) and craft (the process
> of >creation). > >And so I basically began reading in
> place of creating. I read books about >philosophy, art,
photography,
> woodworking, ceramics, pottery, the craft of >writing, etc., etc.
> Perhaps the break from shooting cliches and the >exposure to so many
> different sources helped further my notions of art and >craft.
> Certainly, I feel now that I have a much better idea of what
> I'm >trying to accomplish - I have a much better sense of what I'm
> trying to >communicate and display in my work now. > >So
> over the past few months, I've had the camera out a little more
> often, >and I'm feeling much better about what I'm capturing.
> Artistically, I'm >feeling like I've been making some progress. But
> yet it still seems a bit >on the empty side. I guess I still feel
> like I'm missing the notion of >craft in my photography. I want to
> shape and knead these captured images >into beautiful prints that
have
> the essence, and texture, and richness of my >imagination, but I do
> not have the skills or training to do this. I want to >put my
imprint
> on the final product, and I'm feeling wholly unsatisfied >watching
the
> final product roll off an inkjet printer. > >So my rather
> simplistic sounding question is this: how do you recommend >learning
> an alt-photo process from scratch? From what I can tell,
> gum >printing looks like it would be a great way to begin realizing
> the visions >in my head. I have lots of reading material about
gums,
> and certainly this >list is a great resource, and I have a decent
> intellectual notion about how >to accomplish it, but I'm wondering
> where to make the next step - the step >to take
> action. > >Unlike learning to draw, it's hard to run over to
the
> local community >college and take a class on gum printing. I'm not
> aware of anyone in my >area doing gum printing. So, it's a big
> outlay, but do I just buy a Nu-Arc, >nice scale, good paints, paper,
> chemicals, gum, etc. and go at it on my own? >Would this be a little
> too risky, a little too unsupported? Or might it be >the most
> rewarding way to go about it? Would I be best served by
traveling >to
> a workshop or two to get me started? Are there mentors to be found?
> (I >live in Northern Arizona.) Should I find a BFA/MFA program,
where
> I could a >find a mentor and immerse myself in art and craft for a
few
> years? > >I know that this is a rather personal question, and
I
> apologize if it's >unanswerable. I've been feeling a bit stuck and
I
> thought perhaps throwing >my question out to a wider audience might
> help. Thanks for helping the >artist and craftsperson in me
> emerge. > >Bill > > > 
>
>
Received on Mon Aug 15 06:24:50 2005

Re: Learning a new process-reply