- Love this - Rodrigo Perez
Paper Neg: Port Oneida
View in all its largeness.
I picked up a quirky little book at last week's Crappy Camera Club
meeting: Picture Making with Paper Negatives, by Nowell Ward, first
published in 1938. I read it in bed when I got home and got thoroughly
inspired. The process outlined in the book is basically very simple,
though long-winded, and I followed it pretty closely to make this
picture:
1. The negative was made with a Yashica Mat 124G, Tri-X, red
filter. Developed in HC-110. This was taken back in my artist
residency
last summer.
2. I made a paper positive with the enlarger, on expired Kodabromide,
projected like a regular print, but over-exposed by about a stop.
Developed in expired (and pretty oxidised) Dektol.
3. Then I made a paper negative by contact printing the paper
positive. Exposure time was about a minute, using the enlarger as a
light source, lens wide open. Same paper and dev.
4. The final print made by contact printing the paper negative, this
time the exposure was just 15 secs. Same paper and dev.
Each step is dependent on getting exposure right on each of the
previous steps, so it takes a bit of experimentation and luck,
especially to tame the crazy contrast (which I mostly failed to do).
Oh yeah, and there's some paper kitchen towel action going on in there too...
Comments and faves
czuczy, Rodrigo Perez, Pattay, Mackeson, and 165 other people added this photo to their favorites.
miquelet (53 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Blanc i Negre, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
;-.) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rodrigo Perez (53 months ago | reply)
stunning
Mackeson (53 months ago | reply)
... absorbent.
... Palabra (Square)?
mfophotos (53 months ago | reply)
Matt, I'm glad you picked that up. I have had a copy of that book for about 7 years, and thought it was pretty interesting.
sup3ryummy (53 months ago | reply)
i love how it looks like an illustration in a children's book. great indeed.
grainisgood (53 months ago | reply)
The pattern in the paper towel gives this sort of a "Starry Night" feel.
urbanoasis (53 months ago | reply)
I get a vibe of "domesticity" from the paper towel, like it's suggesting lace curtains or a bedspread in the house/shack.
efo (53 months ago | reply)
This is wild.
Mac Girl (53 months ago | reply)
This is SO cool! And you have so much more ambition than I do... :)
*Hiro (53 months ago | reply)
Awesome.
Marc Akemann (53 months ago | reply)
Way to go, Matt. That's pretty darn cool.
farlane (53 months ago | reply)
This photo appears in our latest video The Week for January 20, 2008. Can we expect a cameo by you in a Bounty paper towel commercial?
Thanks for adding to the Absolute Michigan pool!
bemjjg (52 months ago | reply)
Super!!!!!!!!!!!!!
forgottenpittsburgh (52 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Photographic Possibilities, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Bibimorvarid (52 months ago | reply)
Thats allot of work, but well worth the result.
nicolai_g (52 months ago | reply)
iconic perfection
astoria4u (52 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Photos of Merit, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
neekatnite (52 months ago | reply)
That's sick.
ssinyagin (52 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Quite Useless, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Nellie Vin (51 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Nellie Vin Fine Art Magazine, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Grégoire Saunier (51 months ago | reply)
Love this! Nice work!
The Christopher Show (51 months ago | reply)
So I'm just gonna go ahead and fave this, 'cause this is awesome.
sare_booo72 (51 months ago | reply)
I love this, the paper you've used and the lone house , its perfect x
Alex Drum (51 months ago | reply)
you're my new dad
art209 (50 months ago | reply)
chemistry in the hands of an artist can make amazing things...
your body of work is amazing...
Agnes the Red (45 months ago | reply)
Brilliant use of the kitchen towel....very effective. Thanks for sharing how this work was created.
Le luci elettriche del cappellificio centrale (45 months ago | reply)
Fantastica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AluminumStudios (38 months ago | reply)
Great photo!
How did you get the kitchen towel pattern onto it? Was it over top in the contact printing or something?
Lady Vervaine (37 months ago | reply)
just incredible
patrickjoust (28 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called picky imperfection, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
stefanwest (25 months ago | reply)
cruz g (21 months ago | reply)
just one word ... great