Month: December 2016

“The chemigram process was discovered by Pierre Cordier on November 10, 1956. It is a unique process that uses resists on photographic paper much the same way as wax is used as a resist in batik. What Cordier discovered in 1956 was that a resist can hold back the chemical effects of developer and fixer on black and white photo paper for a time. Paper put into developer that has been exposed to normal room light for varying periods of time will turn black, except where a resist blocks the chemical reaction. The parts of the paper protected by the resist will continue to change color from extended exposure to room light, of course.”

With this artist I have found that she uses nature to create her chemigrams which is something I hope to explore within my own work whether its within the series of work that I have created for this part of the project or not. The first image I have chosen to look at is called Pussy Willow 2 Gelatin Silver Chemigram 10×8″ to create this image Anderson would have had to dip the plant into the chemical of her choice and then put through the chemicals, I find that the image has given me inspiration for my own work although I feel that I can’t replicate this I feel that the colours are very representative of what I am hoping to achieve in my own works. The second image I feel that she has scratched into the paper, although as I have recently discovered she creates her chemigrams by using chemicals found around her home so this image could contain bleach etc which would explain some of the colours that are contained within the prints that I find very interesting, I hope that with further time in the darkroom I could explore the use of different chemicals to see how they react with wet paper.

Using light, chemicals, and a resist on photographic paper I create abstractions which may at times appear photographic but which are made without camera, film or negative. I fuse the materials of photography with the techniques of painting and printmaking to create art.

The first image I have chosen to look at is the black and white image that I believe is very similar to an image of space although I feel that he has used the technique of splatting chemicals onto the paper with a small brush or bottle using it to spray the chemicals and to create the effect we can see in the image that I have chosen. To create this he wouldn’t have used fix or stop except to make sure the image was permanent overall I feel that this is something that I could create in the darkroom myself as its a rather a simple example of a chemigram.

The second image I have chosen is an image with a more orangey tone to it, this one seems to have more of a theme almost looking like a landscape although it is impossible for me to know this as the website that I had sourced this image from gives very little information on how it was created but what it is raising awareness of, after ongoing problems in Japan he created these images.  The brushstrokes are meant to be organic looking as if they are traditional Japanese ink paintings and I feel that I can see this within his work.

I find the process of creating Chemigrams to be interesting as there is no predetermined outcome that I as a photographer can create unlike photograms there is nothing that I can project light onto and nothing that I can control and I find that this creative freedom is somewhat a challenge for me.

Invented in 1956 by Pierre Cordier, the chemigram combines the physics of painting (varnish, wax, oil) and the chemistry of photography (photosensitive emulsion, developer, fixer) ; without a camera, without an enlarger and in full light.

Cordier’s work involves an exploration of the more abstract although I think it may actually be impossible to create a chemigram that isn’t abstract as it completely revolves around the idea of painting darkroom chemicals onto the paper in the light a practice that is frowned upon as you are seen as ruining the paper that you are working on.

The first image that I have found from Cordier’s website seems to be used mainly by scratching into the paper and then painting the chemicals onto the paper, mainly fix as that is the best way to get the golden colour he has produced, I find that this image reminds me very much of static screen that used to appear on televisions. I find that the texture seems to almost jump out at the person viewing it and this could be an idea that I could use within my own work in the darkroom.

The second image that I have chosen to look at is this image which I feel that he may have used paint with to create the blue parts of the image, again he has scratched into the print and I find that this is something that I want to try and work into my work if I have the opportunity. I think he has used mainly fix and then placed the image into the developer to create the pure black part of the image.

As this is truly experimental I won’t be able to create work that is similar to this but it has given me inspiration to create images that are similar to these.

The third photographer that I have chosen to look at is Oscar Gustave Rejlander he is a more traditional photographer using a large format camera he has created large tableaus of work, although as I have said previously that I would prefer to take candid images in a street photographer style I find that these images are very interesting if I was planning on creating large scale more posed images, in a narrative style.

The first image I have chosen is this a double exposure of people there is more of a sepia tone to this image that I have chosen to look at with an almost ghostly quality to the image, I find that this double exposure fits the idea that i wanted to convey in my own work it almost seems that the main focus of the image the man sitting up is dwelling on his life and thinking about what has been what could happen of course this is merely speculation as I have no way of actually knowing what is happening within this image and that I am simply looking for a deeper meaning that might not even be there. Technically I find there is a few imperfections but this is probably due to the time that these pieces were created. I feel that I will be taking the majority of my inspiration from this practitioner as they have carved the path for newer double exposure photographers.

The second image I have chosen is perhaps one of his more famous images, although this image is more of a photomontage rather than a double exposure as he has layered many components together to create this image I feel that the large scale of the image and its many parts cannot be explained fully by annotations as it needs to be viewed in its full glory however, although this isn’t strictly double exposure but I find that this is very helpful as it has helped me understand. I feel that this image is technically very good and although I don’t want to create such an image like this as I feel more interested by street photography.

The second photographer that I have chosen to look at is Jerry Uelsmann, I was recommend his work by another member of staff that had more experience with double exposure photographers. I have selected a few of his images as he only has a small sample on  his website. The first image I have chosen is this image here a double exposure consisting of a view of a person standing on the edge of a hill or a mountain top and that seems to have been exposed with what seems like a tornado but is probably an interesting formation within the clouds, if looking at it for purely aesthetically purposes the image is very pleasing to the person viewing it, and the use of black and white with the dramatic lighting is very reminiscent of Ansel Adams who was famous for his dramatic lighting of his subjects. The second image that I have chosen to look at is the image of water exposed with the human form layered under it. The photographer has used image manipulation to mirror the image on both sides of the photo. Technically the image is very interesting it uses rule of thirds and a horizon point can be viewed in the image at the very back and centre the eye is drawn to this naturally with the leading lines contained in the image. The third image that I have chosen to look at is a double exposure of three girls stood on the shoreline I am unsure of what this image has been exposed with but it seems to be an image of water, although the placement of the image makes it seem as if the three are pointing towards the image in the centre of the frame. Again the use of black and white adds tone to the image and again is comparable to Adams the use of dramatic greys and blacks within the work to add tone and feeling to the image. Although I admire the work of this artist I find that I can’t really use his work to inspire my own, although I like the landscapes that he has used for the basis of his own work I find that I would rather do more street photography for this project.