What is a Vorticism? Vorticism started in 1914 in London and encompassed sculpture, photography, painting, woodcuts and graphic design. The movement, which was a ‘response to French Cubism and Italian Futurism’ (1) was led by Wyndham Lewis and named by Ezra Pound. The photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn first exhibited his vortographs in 1917. I’m a huge fan of Coburn, and that’s how I originally learnt about vortographs. … Continue reading Vortographs
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
Sticky post
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
We’ll briefly cover history & science of cyanotypes, compare the three main options on chemicals and look at how to make an exposure. History & Science A Mini History The cyanotype process produces a beautiful, Prussian-blue coloured print. The process was developed in 1842 by Sir John Herschel, an English astronomer, as an easy way to make copies of diagrams. For much of the 20th … Continue reading Create Your Own Cyanotypes
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
Where do you get your love of photography from? I think I get it from my parents. My dad took hundreds of photos of my mum. She was clearly his favourite subject. They met when she was 15, he was 17. I’d love to say they stayed together forever more, but they didn’t; by the time I was two years old they’d split up, so … Continue reading A Few Family Photos from the 1960s & 1970s
The Epic Compendium 