Re: Blue-Black Cyanotype & Luster

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005, Kai Hamann wrote:

> Hello Judy,
>
> Concerning Eder you write: >the chemistry book, not the "History" which
> was names & dates<. I´ve looked up Abebooks and am a bit curious about
> which chemical Eder you are writing. In German there was published a
> pocketbook (which is pretty common) with reciepes that has about 500
> pages and the "Ausführliches Handbuch der Photographie" (meaning
> "Comprehensive Handbook on Photography"). The Eder "History" is only ONE
> of about 14 parts in 4 volumes of that work. Most important for me is
> the IV/4 that deals with non-silver print out processes with iron,
> manganesee, copper, vanadium, uranium, platinum, ... salts on about 270
> pages.

Hi Kai,

It sounds like the book I have called "History of Photography" by Josef
Maria Eder, translated by Edward Epstean, published by Dover Press (1978,
as an "unabridged & unaltered republication of the work originally
published by Columbia University Press, 1945") is different. It's 848
pages including the index, with LOTS of names and DESCRIPTIONS of effects,
findings, and processes, but nothing that someone (or this one) would
consider a formula or could do if she didn't already know how to do it.
Sounds to me like Columbia University picked out the stuff *they* liked,
what a historian could understand, and left the "techy" stuff for geeks
and that "Comprehensive Handbook on Photography."

I wonder if that's been translated???

> And well, toning cyanotypes. I think it is the most wonderful thing one
> can do with a cyanotype. Making a good cyanotype print is more precise
> handwork than art. Toning is the art to rule over science. As a non
> native english speaker I can´t express it better right now. When toning
> you have to make fast decisions, take risks and understand the
> principles or the image can be ruined within seconds.

Too true, but taking risks with cyanotype isn't extreme peril, I always
thought, because it's so easy and cheap to make another when you screw up.

> PS: Yesterday I made the first prints with a new toning technique that
> builds up the picture with tiny individually colored pieces. Here is a
> cutout of one of the prints:
> http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/cat/2442/display/4155392. Guess how
> proud I am? =:)

It sounds wonderful... As I've probaably admitted a few times, my system
crashes when I even breathe "http//www" but when I recover I often get
there... I shall try. Meanwhile, congratulations.

Judy
Received on Sun Oct 16 20:41:25 2005