I’m now at the end of my psychogeography course with the Open College of the Arts, so I thought it would be useful to talk about my experience of the course. I think the strength of something like this it is that it gives you a framework for studying and producing work, along with a peer group to discuss and interact with. The idea of … Continue reading Psychogeography 2
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If you’ve tried cyanotypes and enjoyed them, you can take them a bit further by introducing cyanotype chemicals to black and white darkroom paper. What You Need This technique combines a lumen print with a cyanotype to introduce various tones and colours that you cannot achieve with cyanotype alone. For this example I’ve used Ilford RC (resin coated) multigrade paper, freshly mixed cyanotype liquid, turmeric … Continue reading Cyanolumens
How to Create a Lumen Print For this you will need: Darkroom black and white photographic paper; I’m using Ilford multigrade resin coated* Photographic fixer; I’m using Ilford Rapid Fixer Sunshine or UV light Running water to rinse Glass and board to put it all on, or a contact frame Plant material or something to block light that you want a photogram image of. I’ve … Continue reading Simple Lumen Prints
My guide to creating a cyanotype. I decided to try a few experiments to work out how various additions to a wet cyanotype can effect the outcome, and then to tone these experiments. If you’re particularly interested in this I’d recommend you follow the blog as I intend to do a lot more of these as I found it a useful exercise. I’ve also now … Continue reading Cyanotype: Taking it Further
How to Transfer an Image onto Plaster This post will show you how to transfer a laser printed image onto plaster. Keep in mind that this technique probably won’t give you a perfect result. For me, part of the reason for this process is the introduction of slight imperfections that add character to the final piece. Steps: Create a plaster base (method below) using Plaster … Continue reading Transfer Images to Plaster
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A Really Simple Guide to Developing Film at Home I couldn’t find a really simple guide to developing film when I needed a refresher, so this post is to fill that gap. If you want to give film a try don’t be put off by not having a darkroom. You don’t need a darkroom to develop film and you don’t need a darkroom to print … Continue reading Developing Black & White Film
Skip to making an accordion book When I started using bookbinding to create my own photography books and reflected on the different structures available beyond the basic codex that we are all familiar with, I was surprised that I don’t see many more accordion books. The variations available in the presentation of information make it quite a powerful device. You can use the format to … Continue reading The Power of Accordion Books in Photography and Storytelling
Creating an Impossible Image with Polaroid I’m a big fan of instant film, and of Polaroid in particular. Enjoying creativity over a perfect outcome, Polaroid works well for the type of photography I practice. That’s why I now have several Polaroid cameras, a fridge full of films, and a Polaroid Instant Lab. What is Polaroid Instant Lab? The Polaroid Instant Lab is a device that … Continue reading Impossible Polaroids
A Photographic Subject to Explore These images were taken with a Canon EOS 300 using Fuji colour film at Kingston Lacy NT in Wimborne, late summer 2018. This gallery contains a mix of film scans and photo scans and so the quality is variable and you can see there are some white lines and haze in some of the images which I think are the … Continue reading Flowers on Fuji Colour Film
The Epic Compendium 