2-1-LONGTERMPROJECT-ANALOGUEPRINTING

First prints
Made a contact sheet to see if I had my set up and chemicals right. Then jumped right into experimenting.

No negative - laying a whiskey glass sidewise on photo paper and turning the enlarger on for 15s at F8 exposure on the lens.

Glass of water on top of the photopaper - love the distortion it creates. Will experiment further with this

Painting the developer on and not putting it in a developer bath - straight into the fix. I like the possibilities this offers.

Whiskey glass - no negative - quick spark of a lighter held above. Love the refraction, the randomness of the flame is also very interesting

Bending the photopaper over a bowl - result wasn't interesting. Needed bigger curve.

Brush on fix - then expose - then usual chemical baths. I find the distortion very satisfying.

Fix splattered on - effect is also almost tactile - Would be interesting to see if I could control more

Controlled fix - bigger brush. I love the dragged feeling it gives off - Especially where it hatches. Creates a 3d feel almost.

2.1 - Production Process Interventions

Analogue Printing

SESSION 1 - I used this first session to familiarise myself with the process and tried out a few of my intervention ideas.

The quiver of the light refraction here draws me in. I assume this has something to do with the wavering light of the lighter

The dust speckles here are also satisfying. It's also a good reminder that very minute changes are blown up too.

(top left) These clusters are also very interesting. It looks like a light / motion painting.. or something that you could make digitally

(right) The light that is refracted and falls outside of the obvious object is subtly beautiful.

Another example of the clusters that grab me

I love the light refraction and manipulation here. I am at this point starting to realise that playing with the light interests me more than the image itself

SESSION 2 - Decided to go forwards with the chemicals ideas. Was most taken by the whiskey tumbler and the lighter though

Burnt film - Interesting spots appeared

Same thing - different exposure - F4

I am reminded here that I filled the tumbler with some olive oil as well as a bit of water. I like these various spots

I can still recognise the patter on the tumbler in here - I'd like to see how this would work with a more controlled light.

The thatched effect strikes me as particularly interesting - it immediately makes the flat print seem 3D.

I like the dragged effect of the wide brush. Would like to experiment with this more.

Again what gets me here is actually the way the intervention has manipulated the light.

SESSION 3 - Taken out negatives from the equation. Before going into scientific method mode I decided I'd have a play with some of the interventions I came up just to see what kind of effects I could create.

Whiskey glass and laser - laser not fixed. Am just exploring textures.

Shining the laser straight onto the paper through the developer - direction dictated by following the bubbles.

More exploring textures

Shining the laser straight onto the paper.

This was by far the most controlled experiment of this session. Laser fixed and tumbler measured at 1m away from the printpaper, the laser is 2m away.

Different section of the glass - you can see one of the petal like shapes in this one. I think the oil like texture is the smoother structure in the tumbler towards the top

SESSION 4 - There isn't much different in these - the paper is older and the chemicals are newer. I was intrigued by the results in the previous one and did not want to move away from that quite yet.

I love this protruding shape - The way the light forms shapes is fascinating.It's like a window into a whole world we can't see.

Reminds me of a crab - or something to that effect. This has lots of interesting lines that turn into ripples.

Really interesting movement in this one - also some minor details really attract me and make the whole a lot more interesting

Fantastic mix of textures in this one - it's the point in the glass where the most amount of shapes / tecxtures / surfaces meet.I assume it has to do with the way the light refracts in relation to the glass quality.

Again I like the mix of textures - would like to find a way of harnessing these gradient like results

SESSION 5 - Trying to harness the control of the shapes a bit more. Taking the photopaper and chemicals out of the mix for a bit while I try and get more understanding for how the light is bending and what parts thereof I'd like to take further.

SESSION 6 - In this session I wanted to see if the best results were coming from the structure or the material. I used some very interesting glass sculptures but they didn't actually produce anything interesting. I am now starting to realise that Crystal (lead glass) and irregular glass are most interesting in the way they effect the light.

Most interesting parts of the wine glass are where the most warping happens

Back to the whiskey tumbler. I love these tests because of the ability to blow them up in scale

Trying to gain and gage more control of this. These four are a series of a tiny rotational changes.

Not quite sure where this might go but these are obtained by pouring boiling water into the tumbler. I love the movement it creates.

SESSION 7 - I spent this session primarily looking at various vessels and their "sweet spots"

(reminder to upload pictures of vessels along-side results)

Martini glass - flute - dead center

Vessel = 1m from wall
Laser = 33cm from vessel

Martini glass - foot - 2cm to the right from center

Vessel = 100cm from wall
Laser = 42cm from vessel

Wine glass - where foot and stem meet

Vessel = 75cm from wall
Laser = 13cm from vessel

Wine glass - dead center of stem - 1cm up from bottom of glass

Vessel = 75cm from wall
Laser = 13cm from vessel

Wine glass - where foot and stem meet

Vessel = 0.75m from wall
Laser = 13cm from vessel

Dotted glass surfaces - through top of glass so only one side is refracting

Vessel = 0.32cm from wall
Laser = 75cm from vessel

Whiskey tumbler - 2cm from center to the right

Vessel = 40cm from wall
Laser = 22cm from vessel

Champaign glass - 2cm from center to the right

Vessel = 40cm from wall
Laser = 22cm from vessel

Twisted stem crystal champaign glass - dead center

Vessel 28cm from wall
Laser = 42cm from vessel

SESSION 8 - Starting to figure out how to capture this in digital photography. Failing somewhat. I like the potential and quite like some of these results but the technicality of shooting refracted laser light is more difficult than I had imagined.