Jonathan Stead Photography

Lenscratch

2012-01-31T16:13:00.000Z

Today is a fine day, I just received an email from Aline Smithson saying my page on Lenscratch has gone live.

I'm thrilled it is such a fantastic blog and if I hadn't just written 6000 words for my MA I'd go on about it much more...

http://www.lenscratch.com/2012/01/jonathan-stead.html

I also got a request to show the work on a Dutch Blog today too.

New Website - Analogue Photography Workshops

2012-01-22T16:16:00.000Z

www.jonathanstead.com

I've been busy with analogue photography workshops, especially towards the end of last year, so after much pestering, I decided to have my website redesigned to reflect that.

So go browse... most of my stuff is on there, salt prints, glass plate negatives (dry plate), Lith prints and paper negative.

Analogue Photography Workshops, now being served.

Fragile Mind - The plates

2012-01-16T16:50:00.001Z

Still working on what exactly to say about this project.

It ended up being the last few months of my Grandmothers life - she passed away on Boxing day after becoming increasingly withdrawn. She suffered with dementia and the plates try and to reflect the vague, flawed and troubled reality she found herself in.

These initial plates are for the 'Expand' exhibition in Manchester.

Millennium Images

2012-01-13T19:11:00.000Z

Just came across my image as the featured Image on Millennium Images homepage...

Glass Plates

2012-01-12T20:22:00.000Z

I've been busy working toward an exhibition in Manchester that happens just before I finish up my MA in photography for the last few months I have been documenting the decline of my Grandmother.

Sadly she passed away on Boxing day so my project started as documenting her decline and the effects of dementia on her and unknowingly ended up being the last months of her life.

For the exhibition I decided to print the images onto glass plates and display them free standing on a plinth. I will blog about this in the next few days but I wanted to share a little preview with you...

Some plates on the light table...

Gelatin Dry Plate / Glass Plate Negatives

2011-12-05T21:40:00.000Z

I've been on with a few workshops lately - specifically with the Gelatin Dry Plate process. I love the dry plate process not only for it's ease in being able to travel with prepared plates - unlike wetplate, but as the more you mistreat the process the more it seems to reward you.

Here are some images from a recent workshop, for me the process is all about the imperfection, I try and not be too cautious as if I wanted a perfect image I would use film. All exposures were 15 seconds.

5x4, hand coated glass plates printed onto silver gelatin paper - ps, this stuff is pretty much grain free!

Plate one (above) bad pour - being rough when pouring the gelatin onto the plate which leaves streaks and drip marks in the final image.

Plate two (above) good pour, killer look (Thank you Lucy), general rough developing marks and scratches.

Plate three (above) general wear and tear in processing, not a particularly good coating but then the wet emulsion was scratched off onto the way into the enlarger.

New selected work by Millenium Images

2011-11-23T21:17:00.000Z

I left my heart here....

Come learn and enjoy

2011-11-20T15:03:00.000Z

It's probably six months since I moved into my new large darkroom and I've been quite busy with workshops.

If your interested in learning more about various processes get intouch and check out this page... feel free to spread the word too!

www.jonathanstead.com/teaching.html

New Exhibition

2011-11-20T14:50:00.000Z

As usual, I've been working away, framing work takes so long but finally ready for what looks to be a fantastic exhibition at Butchers Works Sheffield.

So if you're in the Sheffield area over Christmas... go see!

New Interview...

2011-11-01T18:49:00.002Z

Check out a recent interview on my work and my holiday pinhole project HERE.

Paper Negatives

2011-10-28T20:26:00.000+01:00

A day of large format and paper negative. Straight (inverted) scans some old expired and fogged Hungarian paper. Developed until they looked good in the developer. 5x4 Sinar.

Latest portraits...

Two seconds

Two Seconds

Two Minutes

Tales from an amber room...

2011-09-23T18:17:00.000+01:00

Fragile mind

2011-09-14T12:49:00.001+01:00

After much testing experimenting I feel I have finally found the aesthetic 'voice' that suits this imagery - the last few flowers of my Gradmothers garden (she is in care with advanced dementia).

Hand coloured silver gelatin prints - each 8x10in (now sold).

Ironing out life

2011-09-11T14:38:00.000+01:00

Going away to Croatia in a few weeks, and time for a reflection on this year - what it has brought me and what my direction will be over the next few months. I feel like I have spread myself too thinly with my work and do too many different subjects / processes / techniques. Don't get me wrong each experiment ha led to an insight and further direction but I am quickly creating a body of work that has no bond, it is becoming a bit of this and a bit of that.

Some of my work is commercially biased and sometimes I am guilty of creating work that I know will sell in galleries or get published, all very well but this gets in the way. Maybe this is just a stage in creating a vision and realising what it is I want to say, what Jonathan Steads work looks like.

Ideas are beginning to materialize and hopefully before I go away I will have the starts of a project I can concentrate on while away - exploring my love affair with the ocean, something I will be surrounded by in Croatia. Much of my work revolves around finding the correct 'voice' for an image I believe that each process or technique has characteristics that suit a certain subject and somehow brings something of itself into the final work.

Croatia, Ellie, The Ocean, Film Cameras.

Can't wait.

Keeping Bees

2011-09-09T10:06:00.001+01:00

'Beekeeping is a moral activity, as far as it keeps one away from cafés and low places
and puts before the beekeeper an example of work, order and devotion to the common cause.
Moreover, beekeeping is a pre-eminently healthy and beneficial activity, because it is most often
done in the fresh air, in fine, sunny weather. For sunshine is the enemy of illness just as it is the master
of vitality and vigour.'

Translated from the original French version of 'L'Apiculture Pour Tous'.

Initial shots un-edited.

Gelatin Dry Plate experiments

2011-09-09T09:40:00.001+01:00

I learned something from each one...

Impossible Project

2011-09-09T09:35:00.000+01:00

Latest work selected by Millennium Images

Bee salt print

2011-09-09T09:31:00.000+01:00

The first year of keeping bees is coming to an end now, but still they work away.

Salt print day

2011-09-09T09:29:00.000+01:00

Some things you just have to spend a day with to get to grips with.

Salt printing is such a thing, although so simple it becomes rather complicated once you want to 'steer' it in the direction you want. I love salt printing because of the imperfections, the double coating of the paper allows for the various chemical reactions to work at different rates creating a very analogue feel to the work, and being able to work on water colour paper is nothing but a joy!

Studio day

2011-09-09T09:23:00.000+01:00

I finally got to test my hand made 10x8 camera. I built the wooden body, I designed and made the lens, I sealed it from light and here are some of the results.

Paper negative sandwich contact printed of my good friend Miki.

Odds and ends

2011-08-27T21:31:00.000+01:00

Salt prints

2011-08-12T11:01:00.000+01:00

A collection of just some of the literally 100's of buttons from my Grandmothers house. In this case used for some small salt print photograms.

Fragile mind

2011-08-11T18:43:00.001+01:00

Working towards my final pieces for an upcoming show on dementia and the fragile nature of memory. I collected various flowers from my grandmothers garden - flowers that were once tended and looked after. These are now all that remains of her gardening past as she sits in an old persons home, pretty much waiting for death to come.

I dried these flowers which changed states from alive to dead and from life-filled and robust to fragile and decayed. Here are initial works in progress...

Beauty in the confusion.

People watching

2011-08-11T17:12:00.000+01:00

I finally finished my hand made lens that gives a sharp centre and soft edges. This is stopped down to f4 at the moment which lessens the effect but these are always hard to judge as blurred images always seem more blurred on the negative.

Anyway, these are the first test shots while people watching in London, excuse the crash scans, I'm looking to print the in the darkroom over the next few weeks.

Fragile Beginings

2011-08-07T12:08:00.001+01:00

Finally moved into my new darkroom and loving having so much space to work. First darkroom print is already hanging in a gallery (Cupola Gallery) 55 x 120cm. I feel lack of facilities has really held me up, really excited about being able to create darkroom work again, I have 100's of negatives to print.

Pinhole – the return.

2011-07-15T21:42:00.000+01:00

I took my good Hungarian friend Miki on a trip to the East coast the other week to show him some proper English seaside towns. One of the days we ended up at what felt like the end of the world – Spurn point. It's the first time I remember going here and it is so strange - a three mile 40 meter wide 'lump' of sand.

There are some really interesting break waters along the rather harse and wind swept beeches. Miki had took a large format camera out for the first time so it spurred me to take my old friend the 5x4 pinhole. As you can see my eye is a little out as the horizons are a little out but I love how you get a suprise compisition - ones that I would possibly have not gone with had I seen what I was about to get but I like 'em anyway.

Finally took keys to my new studio in Sheffield so prepare for one of two things - either masses of work on hwere or not at all cause i have fallen out with computers (not a fan) and prefer chemicals and red lights as company.

All shot on Adox 100 ART.

Adox 100 Update

2011-07-15T13:37:00.000+01:00

After singing the praises of this film i feel I should update you all, after developing around 25 sheets of 5x4 I seem to have small lumps of gelatin on the film after development. This seems a quality control issue at source – so as a low cost sheet film it works great and if you scan (so you can edit out the marks) rather than contact print it really is a great film.

Beauty in decay

2011-06-30T22:52:00.002+01:00

Dried hand picked roses from the garden.

5x4 Adox CHS100 developed in RO9.

Tough times...

2011-06-29T22:35:00.000+01:00

The price of Silver has gone crazy in the last year with the resulting rise in photographic material costs. Although I love Ilford, and as a brit always chose them for quality and consistency over the American Kodak, and the Japanese Fuji (keep it local people!) recently I have looked at cheaper alternatives, mainly in large format (5x4) as a new project requires lots of it.

So buying from my favorite Ag photographic (amazing prices and service) who seem on the same - cost saving page as I am have scoured the world in search of alternatives. So I ended up with some 5x4 Adox CHS100 and my ever friendly RO9 (Rodinol), I just shot some still lives with it - images to come soon - and developed it in my new (how did I live without it) Paterson Orbital.

So there I am with 1.5ml of RO9 (yes 1.5ml) made up to 150ml of developer and 19mins later (plus stop fix and wash) I had some of the most delightful negatives I have ever seen. And the film costs 1/2 what Ilford does and the developer (1.5ml per four sheets of 5x4) that sells itself! So my advice - play around, you will be surprised at the quality of these lesser-known brands! Also to note, I have been shooting with some 10 year out of date 5x4 and to be honest I for one can't tell the difference! So feel free to Ebay away your pennies!

Salt Printing

2011-06-19T12:54:00.000+01:00

Again Salt Printing is another one of the million things I have not got around to, but after a productive afternoon I made a couple and have become drawn to the process and want to work with it much more.

Again in a basic write up, it involves 'painting' a piece of paper with salt water and then once dry 'painting' it with Silver Nitrate which then creates light sensitive paper. It is one of the original discoveries over 170 years ago at the dawn of photography by Mr Henry Fox Talbot (read super hero).

Anyway it was well into the evening and the light was poor (you need UV i.e. Sunlight - but I have cloudy low UV evening light) I plucked an old Polaroid type 55 neg out of the pile of a couple of dried roses and placed it in my contact printing frame and 30mins later I had an image.

Way underexposed I know but results are results!!!! Some people spend ages making sure everything is perfect, especially with the coating but I am drawn to the 'faulty' coating which makes for a much more interesting and handmade feeling image. I have a lot of practicing to do but I will definitely be working more with this beautiful process.

Due to the sensitivity of the chemical reation and the ability of it to become contaminated by the water used to make the solution (which had chemical impurities - Chlorine for example), the paper and even dust that makes it's way into the solutions - this process is quite open to the 'hand of chance' to change colours and the visual outcome of the print. Which is I guess what is so appealing to me - the organic nature of image creation.

Wetplate Photography

2011-06-19T12:27:00.000+01:00

I've been on hold with my work for quite some time as I always find it easier and more productive to work when everything is set up so I can just crack on. I was due to be in my new darkroom from beginning of June but the previous tenants are messing around and so I'm not sure when I will be in.

I have been wanting to crack on with some real labour intensive processes for a while - not 'cause they are labour intensive you understand but the problem is because there is so much preparation and a proper space is needed to carry out all the chemical preparation etc etc it is not really a set up for an hour and get it done type of thing.

But I have been getting creative itch and after a solid month of crazyness I visited a wonderful artist and all round good egg, Deborah Parkin up in Northumberland to talk, learn and do some wetplates. Although Deborah has a wonderful studio and dedicated space when I actually looked around I realized that the actual process didn't need that much space.

Which had the result of me making some salt prints (no link to wetplate) and coating my glass plates with abase layer all in one afternoon. Salt printing is another process that I have wanted to do for an age but again was put off by my current lack of space and time, but it all went rather well, and my creative drought was satisfied for an afternoon.

Anyway back to Deborah Parkin. Most of you will have seen her work or have heard about her and having met her it was great to talk to a fellow photographer was so similar. I was very jealous of her beautiful light-filled studio and the amount of work she had done (the room was filled with 5x4 wetplate tintypes.) Both her and her hubby really looked after me and made me feel very welcome indeed. We spent a couple of days talking, sharing ideas and plans and making a few wetplates plates, it was fascinating.

For anyone not familiar with the process - in a super simple write up here goes...
Working with plates either glass or metal, they are coated with collodion - kind of a syrup - that is hand pored onto the plate. This is then immersed for a few minutes in Silver Nitrate (which is then light sensitive). This is then placed int he camera - still wet (the plate becomes insensitive to light as it dries - about 3mins) - hence the name, so you have to be quick to make the exposure in a large format camera. The plate is then developed and you are left with an instant positive plate - one-off absolutely UNIQUE.

Apologies for the crudeness of my typing I have a little coffee induced head fog, so this is my mind poring itself unstructured into the keyboard.

Fuzion Magzine

2011-06-15T21:56:00.003+01:00

Had a couple of pieces published in Fuzion Magazine so go check it out...

Looking forward

2011-06-07T21:25:00.000+01:00

Many months since I posted I know... have been up the wall.

Off tomorrow to meet Deborah Parkin and do some wetplate (I am so excited) then camping on my lonesome up in Northumberland.

Also just got the text from my interview for Next months Black and White Photography magazine. SOunds really good.

Must dash.

Urban Outfitters - Exhibition

2011-04-30T13:30:00.004+01:00

Popped over to Manchester the other day and finally got to see my work exhibited there. It's always a great feeling to have work out and about. The prints are large - framed they are 100cm x 70cm and it's great to see work that large.

All available for sale and exhibited for the next few months. Next stop Kensington branch in London which will be fab.

More work with Carmen.

2011-04-11T20:30:00.003+01:00

Negatives developed, contact prints (a new found interest) made and a few picks off the sheets.

I have to say I have never in my life done contact prints, but now I have started to find a beauty in the tiny, somehow elemental images. And I adore the traces the glass (scratched and mucky) leaves on the print.

Long exposure, real film, contacts prints, green grass - spring in my step, spring in the air.

Moonko - now representing me

2011-04-09T07:24:00.002+01:00

I have been plucked gently and graciously by the kind folks over at MoonKo, a new and exciting online gallery.

So many interesting and exciting exhibitions are already in the pipe line. I'll keep you posted.

MoonKO

Urban Outfitters

2011-04-09T07:17:00.004+01:00

I have been working away behind the scenes - I'm sure I used to have time to take pictures. Anyway, I have a piece up in an exhibition in Urban Outfitters Manchester. I surrently have one image but they asked for more which I am currently on with producing and getting framed.

It's always a joy to get your work out there and have a chance to see it so big (the work is 2ft by 3ft). So I need to head over to Manchester next week and deliver the rest as well as see the actual exhibition.

A little bit of analogue goodness - shot with my home made tilt shift lens complete with light leak or chemical spill on the negative.

Real

2011-03-19T11:48:00.005Z

I have been on a low for quite a while about my work and where I am going, I always seem to be really interested in a subject or process and then after a few weeks everything has faded and my thoughts shift to another project.

I'm not sure why this is and I have three unfinshed projects that all started off really well but have since faded away to the back of my mind. But yesterday I did something I have wanted to do for a while - shoot a model.

I have been caught up a little with the commercial side of things over the past few months and it has been a long time since I did work that I wanted to do and, more inportantly, work that I am proud of. I heard the other day of an artist who pinned all his work to the wall and everytime he got bored of an image he took it down. Those that were left there were his best work, they held his attention, them moved him.

I have also read recently of the idea of looking back at the few images that you would save in a house fire type situation - both these got me thinking, the work I have done over the past few months couldn't be carried out in a fire 'cause it's all held digitally! Boooo.

So with my thoughts turing to my final major project and after a lovely day with a lovely model using my favorite camera (5x4 Sinar) loaded with lovely Ilford warmtone paper as a paper negative, I realised that I had been missing something, the craft, the feeling of creating, in a true sense, just isn't there for me when I scan and look at my work digitally (I typically shoot film 90% of the time so it often in in negative form).

So my Friday...

I just asked my model to pose as she pleased, we chatted about all sorts and I ran 18 paper negs through the large format over about one-and-a-half hours, I left the camera lens open the whole time and exposures were around 30secs to one minute with my typical simplistic lighting set up (open window and reflector for a little fill). Then running the negs through the chemicals that beautiful moment of the reveal happens when everything come together.

I couldn't wait to make contact prints so I quickly crash-scanned them but as it is I think they work beautifully as a set. But I will be contact printing them at a later date to create a larger work. I have got so used to scanning everything to 60mb tiffs for publication it was such a revelation to see something so physical and intimate. I like the idea of almost capturing a private moment and being the only one to see it, with these tiny 5x4 prints.

I guess it was just good to be riminded that I love the physicality of photography, creating negatives, real prints. I want box fulls of stuff stored away and on display, I don't just want a metal box full of virtual work that exists only on the screens of computers. I want something I can hold in my hand, and allow others to do the same.

Darkroom, I've missed you.

Photography

2011-03-09T17:05:00.001Z

All that is good in photography happens behind the camera.

All that is crap in photography happens in front of a computer screen.

Good times

2011-03-05T20:50:00.002Z

I had a cracking month of image sales with over 10 pieces selling. So my time has been spent looking for new opportunities and making a push into these areas (small galleries) as always it's the learning that takes so long, questions such as... how big, how much, what it the final work going to look like, digital print, traditional, limited unlimited... bla bla.

So I have figured many things out and now am on the up. This has sparked a new article idea in my mind, so anyone want to contribute? I am looking for case studies, how do you present your work? Sizes, media etc etc. I already have two artist that are interested and it's a chance for publication so let me know... you never know.

Also i will be at Focus on imaging on Monday, if anyone is going drop me a line and we may be able to meet up – jon@jonathanstead.com.

Oh and check out my new image sales gallery The Archive.

Blog oh Blog oh Blog

2011-03-04T12:49:00.002Z

As always I have been a busy bee, I've been writting a new article for Ag on the Parkeharrisons, and have filled a couple of galleries with nice things for nice people to buy.

Update coming soon when I'm less on the hop.

8 Months later

2011-02-01T18:22:00.003Z

It's been a long long time since I have flicked the switch on an enlarger and worked in a darkroom! I know I can't believe it either, why cause I been doing work for others and not me. Well I say that I have also been getting side-tracked by the various avenues photography offers.

So I got back got the chemicals and did a few experiments something have had my mind on for a while. So, light + paper + chemicals = darkroom goodness.

First photogram for a long while.

The Impossible project

2011-01-28T17:09:00.002Z

Hopefully some of you out there will have read my article and have tried out some of the Impossible Projects range of films, I have just got back from a shoot using the silver shade product - my favorite.

If you have no idea what I am on about google the impossible project, get a polaroid camera of the 'bay and go have some fun, it really is some cracking stuff, I'll get the shots scanned and get em to ya, they rock.

The things I have seen

2011-01-26T15:49:00.002Z

e

v

Some of the things I have seen over the winter months. All off for submission to image libraries.

Any offers?

2011-01-20T15:36:00.002Z

To all those reading this, I write for Ag, as you know, and I am starting to build relationships with other magazines. So I am looking for interesting photography related stuff, whether you think your work is something special of you know about something you think would make a great article, please get in touch at...

jon@jonathanstead.com

You may not be famous but it's great to get your work out there.

Upcoming Article published in Ag Magazine

2011-01-10T17:26:00.002Z

It's coming – any day now. I have written an article on the new Impossible Project film, for Ag magazine. Which as you can see by the above cover is coming out in the next issue. So check it out to see what I thought of this totally unique product. So go rescue an old Polaroid camera from a car boot sale and go shoot some instant photography.

You can see the shots from the article over at my website.

Winter

2011-01-08T16:57:00.004Z

Just like I remember as a kid we are finally having proper winters in the UK. The crazy weather still has the ability to excite and mess things up enough (I kind of like the pandemonium and amount of news the white stuff gets). I even got caught out in a mini snow storm. I've been busy with research and not taking as many photos as I would like but I knew these trees would make a perfect winter snow scape. I just had to wait for some folk to walk in-front of me.

Taken with my favorite lenses – my 45mm tilt shift or my 80mm tilt shift (the shot with the figure). I just love how the focus is 'thrown', which really allows you to pinpoint what you want to in an image. More and more I feel like I see a potential in a subject and have to wait to kind of stew it in my mind to see what I want from it. I have been driving past these trees for months and as soon as it snowed i knew that was the shot. I just wish I had a model with a long coat and umbrella to get a shot that I see in my minds eye!

Happy New Year.

Introducing... Lucy Ridges

2010-12-22T11:55:00.002Z

Lucy Ridges = all round good egg and snappy dresser.

Not only a fab mate and a talented photographer but now is my fave as I made it onto her website!

Merry Christmas to all. Kiss for the girls, man-hug for the boys.

http://www.lucyridges.com/

Yey

2010-11-23T18:20:00.002Z

Just flicking through the work over at ArcAngel Image Library and I came across two of my images in their banner. I have put a lot of time into the two image libraries I am currently with but to be honest I don't really view it as work it is quite a pleasurable process. I've now ironed out my teething problems and I am getting ever-more efficient at the process.

Other things...
I have added a few more images to

secret_garden

for the upcoming Ag article on Impossible Project films, so head over and sneak a peak.

Also its very nearly my birthday (29th of November), so blog fans, I am after a Mac Book Air (larger screen I think), so if you want to buy me one go ahead, or you could club together...

Many months work

2010-11-13T10:52:00.002Z

I have an addiction to blur, I have been through many experiments and playing with various lenses, some rediculously expensive. I've done research into how lenses create images and how they can be exploited to reveal the optical flaws that I find so attractive. I've built many many prototype lenses to try and achieve the vision in my minds eye.

After much of the summer with various good images I have built a lens to my own design which I am finally happy with. It's an 85mm tilt/swing design that allows me to play with the focal plane that is in focus, using an SLR allows me to work in a pretty efficient way and get the results I require. I dislike photoshop, and see it a necessary evil so I feel doing things in camera is a more truthful representation of the reality I find myself in. I'm sure one day you'll be able to do this with an iphone app but when that day comes I'm selling up, and moving somewhere I can snorkel the rest of my life away.

So after months of testing and experimentation here are a few of the results all taken one morning at the beach, one of my favorite places, with my current favorite lens and definitely my favorite dog - the ever giddy Immy.

New Interview – Dan Estabrook

2010-10-19T17:34:00.002+01:00

Just received the completed interview with one of my favorite artist photographers Dan Estabrook.

check it out here.

Dan Estabrook Interview

things you will never have seen

2010-10-14T22:26:00.003+01:00

I recently joined ArcAngel images a creative stock library that suits my style. I have been meaning to upload my work having been accepted well over a year ago. So finally got my finger out and got stuck in.

I have already had good feedback from the images and even had one featured on the homepage.

I'm constantly looking for ways to create value from my work as I would like to do what I do full time, anyone any other success or ideas, galleries that are looking etc?

email me at jon@jonathanstead.com

Oh and search my name (jonathan stead) at www.arcangel-images.com to see my more commercial stuff.

Like a duck with twitchy legs

2010-10-14T22:13:00.003+01:00

You know the tale smooth as silk above the water legs going like mad under the water.

Well some things I have been on with...

I have had my first piece of critical writing published in Ag, I wrote a piece on Mark Tweedie a very talented pinhole artist. I have never really been a fan of how many people write about others work with all the quotes of famous people such as Susan Sontag etc etc. Where are her photos? If you don't do it, luv, don't talk about it.

So I tried to talk in a way that I felt reflected Mark's approach and was generally what I thought about his work, how I saw it, not his subconscious relationship to space and time and what one achieves while one takes ones photos while one stands on one legs.

I see a lot of people who don't create anything talking balls about people who do make things, and I'm not keen.

New project online

2010-10-05T18:34:00.002+01:00

I have been shooting the gorgeous the delicious Impossible PX600 films, take a look at...

Secret Garden

Quiet time, lovely people.

2010-10-02T18:25:00.002+01:00

I been quiet I know.

I've had a cracking summer of wandering photographing and thinking. I'm coming into the final year of my MA and feel like I know where my head needs to be and it all feels very much in hand.

I've been making many links with people that I want to work with over the coming year and have to say although approaching people about working with them (as a subject) doesn't come easy but all the people I have approached have turned out to be lovely and very helpful towards what I am after.

Today has been a great day, I have taken images for an upcoming article on my now very close friend Impossible PX600. I had approached Sue who has a gorgeous house and garden come small holding to take images of the timeless working garden she has created.

Also today I had coffee with Peter and Tricia, two people who own a rare breed farm, Pete looks like someone from the dawn of time and Tricia is not far behind. This is turning into my final project that I aim to complete over the next year. I think my ideas and processes will suit the place and the people. I also saved the life of a few-hour-old piglet while there.

All in a days work for a photography super hero.

Upcoming series

2010-08-28T08:59:00.003+01:00

I've been fascinated by glass plate and wet plate photography for as long as I can remember. There is just something about the flawed nature of the images, the flaking emulsion and the cracks and hand applied nature of the chemicals.

I have been putting this off for quite some time as I am aware of how much time it will take me to learn the process, but the other day I decided to put my research on the subject to the test.

No matter how much you read about these processes its only by actually having a crack that you begin to understand what is possible and more importantly what is not. So I began to cut some small glass plates and coat them with emulsion.

After the initial success the emulsion began to separate for the glass in the fixer, disappointing! But I had a feeling this may happen as everywhere I have read about using a hardening fixer... which I don't have.

So here is the only result a photogram of a mint leaf, not the best but a mile stone in terms of knowledge direction enjoyment and a new project.

Oh and in less than a week I should have some hardening fixer in the darkroom (cheers Andrew) so I will have another crack – is that a pun.

Fickle, hard to understand and unexpected tantrums

2010-08-25T23:38:00.003+01:00

Just the way I like my Women.

I have been shooting Impossible Project films over the last few weeks for an article I'm writing for a magazine.

Here is a sneak peak, for those who don't know impossible is labeled experimental (read fickle), this is not for everyone but personally I love it!b below are images altering development temperature...from freezer, to oven.

Or in the case of the pots how the film is treated after exposure i.e. bleached in sunlight etc. I have had so much fun shooting this stuff and love it.

Go buy some, and a buy a cheap Polaroid camera off the 'bay! And fall head over heals.

Figures

2010-08-19T22:07:00.000+01:00

When wondering around...especially at the coast I seem to be drawn to how people occupy that space. Beaches are often transient spaces that come and go and get renewed every 12 hours all over the world.

I am drawn to this place of solitude and find the thought of that space being shared by other ambiguous bodies interesting. I always seem very aware of other people in the space but the size and emptiness of the space makes people no more than anonymous shapes.

Long exposure seascape

2010-08-19T21:34:00.005+01:00

've been on traveling a little around the UK in the last few months and seem always drawn to the sea. I have always enjoyed taking pinhole images but sometimes the softness of the images annoyed me. So with a little ND friend helped me achieve long exposures in daylight in the 30sec - 2mins range. Perfect for a little 'ocean mist effect'.

I took quite a few images.. only four stupidly on black and white, the rest stupidly on slide film that i am unsure what to do with... cross process and gamble in pursuit of some great colours or have them processed in E6 (a first) and have some possible underexposed images.

Having a little bit of breathing space from the humdrum was much needed and the feeling of solitude was much needed. I feel this image sums up my thoughts at the time.

Lith

2010-07-13T22:40:00.003+01:00

It's been a long time since I have been in the darkroom, well weeks, and time for some Lith printing. I have been struggling to achieve my Lith vision for a while as there are not that many developers around so I am trying to standardize on Fotospeed LD-20 as this should be around for a while.

I tend to use Ilford Warmtone paper as my normal paper (although I have gone elsewhere due to crazy prices) and to be honest its not the best Lith paper, I have disappointing results and whatever you read where ever it is it say its rubbish. But been a stubborn northerner I was having none of it.

So...I cooked up a recipe, mixing A and B and Old brown to my preferred formula I finally achieved good results straight away. I picked an old negative or sheet of that I shot on a simple lens medium format camera. The images were square originally but I preferred cropping an almost abstract element out of the middle.

Each image takes around five minutes to come up in the developer. I really enjoy Lith printing as I can get away from the complexities of filters to control contrast. If the test image (I don't do test strips for lith) is too flat shorten the exposure and the development will be longer but more contrasty.

It's a process that is very intuitive and is very tolerable of guessing exposures and pull times, it's how I wish all darkroom printing was, in fact I am of normal printing for a while I only print paper neg stuff or Lith at the moment.

My favorite subject (at the moment), girls in white dresses, Lith did the rest.

Look Look, Vintage.

2010-07-08T19:53:00.005+01:00

More cross processing, these are straight scans cross processed images. I think the colors are a result of the cloudy bright / shade effect of the light. I've been testing the speed of a few slide films for cross processing and they seem to be coming out better rated at 200-400 ISO rather than the 100 ISo on't box.

These are finally what I was after, just setting up a simple shot slowing down with the 5x4 and creating an image rather than taking it. Color is not so much my film but I do love the pastel soft colors of these rather than the mental colors normally associated with cross processing.

As usual photography has pleased me with the unexpected.Only another 193 sheets of slide film to go. But no C41 machine 'till September. So no more testing just shooting and waiting,no more color till then.

This shoot was also a chance to test a vintage brass lens I was kindly given at the beginning of the week, with no shutter it was a 'hand as shutter job'. I don't know enough about C41 / xpro to know what is going on with the color shifts etc so anyone out there have any ideas let me know.

2010-07-07T09:51:00.001+01:00

Finally after many weeks of waiting my some of my work has been uploaded to Millennium Images to sell reproduction rights.

Millennium Images

5x4 Monochrome

2010-07-01T18:54:00.004+01:00

Here are the images form yesterdays play time. My plonk it in developer no agitation, without spiral (causing more developer activity in the bottom of the tank hence the over developed, white appearance) multigrade experiment came out as I expected.

Kind of, I was looking to see what effects bad processing had, i.e. what faults and imperfections showed themselves. I am still fascinated by the accidental imperfections that can be made to show themselves in the medium of analogue photography.

This fundamentally underpins my love of analogue and my dislike for working digitally, analogue degrades, digital corrupts.

This is two negatives joined by the way.

Color experiments

2010-07-01T18:17:00.004+01:00

I developed my initial color 5x4 shots today in the C41 machine, they are various films, some neg some slide. The woodland shot was pinhole and my new favorite film. The colors are amazing can't wait to play more with this one. I think it is a consequence of the 5 minute exposure though.

Others are Ektachrome and normal neg film. The watering can and pots were 5x4 with simple lens, hand as shutter.

The cross processed ones seem a little over exposed and they definitely do not like yellow it just burns out. These are experiments towards my pro work, I think I can get some shots using the quirky colors that appear this way, I like the way color is effected by the light.

Why am I attracted to all faults?

Old Polaroid

2010-07-01T15:44:00.003+01:00

Type 55, this came with my new LF camera, I already knew there were issues with the film as it was so old and had not been kept ideally. It is y2k vintage and I guess had been kept somewhere hot, perhaps a loft as the emulsion had well and truely dried up and refused to coat in the usual way.

Anyway I had to have a look and see for myself. So simple portrait of a simple chap, a kitchen knife to wedge out the negative from the holder and this is the result.

A merry old day

2010-06-30T14:35:00.004+01:00

It is just one of those days today when I feel better about everything, not that I have things to truly worry about you understand, but I have had a bit of a stale old time on my MA when I keep thinking I am still playing too much without getting on with the more serious aspects of research etc.

But I feel less concerned with that and today, for the first time in ages I have just had a play about with the wonderful world of photography. I have recently submitted an article to AG magazine on the artist Mark Tweedie, with that and looking at answering the question behind my work everything has all been a bit deep and, well, serious.

So today was my day, after the dishes, 2 hour walk with new dog, bit of tidying, backing up some digital work, baking bread for the week, making a mess... to be tidied shortly, I have done some shots.

I recently bought a large format camera, and to be honest wish I had years ago, I love it it rocks my world and like having a new woman in your life (or man) it's all I can think about...what can I take with it? It came with boxes (boxes and boxes and a few more boxes) of Kodak film, color neg, black and white and slide. Super cheap so I was aware it may have been baking in a hot loft for its decade of out of date years. but I decided to try some TMAX, simply lit nude was the subject and a brief stint in Multigrade was the soup. (yes you can develop film in paper developer 4mins as a start not recommended for 35mm)

And joy of joys I got a result, I say result as it looks like the whole pack of TMAX had been fogged on one side but, to be honest I don't give two hoots the negs rock. Best go, they,ve been in the fix for 20mins, will post soon. TMAX in Multigrade shot on 5x4, I think I love you.

Guillemot eggs

2010-06-29T22:25:00.004+01:00

As part of my MA I am beginning to research into collections and identity. I am interested in things that are of the same family but have subtle variations. I am increasingly interested in viewing such objects on mass. I think there is something about looking at 100 similar objects and contemplating the slight differences not apparent when looking at the singular.

The images here ane the ones on my website are Guillemot eggs, a species that only lays one egg, the unique patern of the egg allows identification as they do not create a nest and lay the egg on the cliff-face. The eggs shape means that it will not roll far and when in motion rolls in a perfect circle.

I find the intricacies and unique markings fascinating. Although a departure from my usual monochrome working I feel the colors are too good to ignore. I also documented well over 100 individual eggs something that would have taken much longer on film / monochrome. Camera is Canon 5D MK11. I aim to create a large scale piece showing the eggs on mass, in a grid like fashion.

Serendipity

2010-06-14T20:33:00.003+01:00

When I was scanning the negatives I spotted a little blurred scratched gem. Every now and again analogue photography throws you a little piece of magic, a little hint that analogue is supreme to digitals predictable clinical results.

This blurred, scratched, chemically stained piece of film is the result of the part of the negative that has the bit of masking tape on to hold the 120 film onto the spool. I removed the tape before processing on this roll where I never normally do (I just fold it over). The result (I guess) is that the adhesive acted as a resist to the chemicals resulting in the blotchy effect.

This is my favorite image of the day (three rolls) and sums up my I shoot film, just for the chance of something not intended that could not be predicted or created by any other means.

Mel

2010-06-14T20:10:00.003+01:00

After my weekend of developing and looking through my negative sheets I have begun to look at the images I want to work with. I'm starting to seperate work for my MA and work for me and work for submission to image libraries. Depending on what I want to do with them, I either scan them for further work or darkroom print them in a manner suitable for the feel of the image.

I don't get to shoot people much but love the chance when I do, the model here is Mel, the camera is my adapted single lens camera. I have always had poor negatives with this camera and finally realized why! The curved lens pulls in light and effectively smears it across the negative with the effect of fogging the film slightly which means contrast is poor. So with a little tweaking in the processing I produced the following images.

My aim is to print them by using liquid emulsion to create an imperfect feel to the images. At the moment the images are too 'clean' although I am happy with the blurry look, I feel liquid emulsion is the way to go. The images capture Mel at a time of cross-roads in her life, and I feel this is reflected in the images.

A necessary evil

2010-06-04T22:28:00.005+01:00

Saving saving saving that's what I have been doing with my film. I have been shooting most days but have not processed any for months. I have been using Rollei Retro in both 400s and 100 speeds. I understand its pretty much the same as Agfa APX which I used many years ago and liked.

I have been doing quite a lot of shooting over the last few months with both of these films rating them at half their speeds to get good tonality. I have been doing this without ever having processed this film, which I know was a slight gamble but I knew I just had to develop the film by trial and error to achieve the results I wanted.

Well that day was today.

There is little in the way of information for developing the relatively new Retro, and development is quite a personal thing anyway as light meters and subjects can all alter the true speed of your film.

I initially shot a test roll of each rating them at 50 (Retro 100) and 200 (Retro 400s), I developed them for eleven minutes in Ilford ID11 1+1. The Retro 100 (rated at 50) came out slightly under developed with featureless shadows, so I settled on a 12 minute development but ran out of time and so need a little more time to decide on the correct time for my way of working. (After further testing 12 is too much 11mins suits my way of working)

The 11 min development was not enough for the 400 and was way under. So with a little more experimentation I settled on a 14 minute development. However this was still pretty contrasty and I have a feeling this film would be better used as a 100ISO speed film. Tomorrow I will be carrying on with my development and I have around 20 rolls still to process. I also want to experiment with stand development for the Retro 400s as I will require a high speed film for certain shots. Using stand development I should be able to achieve good results and be able to push the film probably upto ISO3200.

But we shall see.

The most unproductive productive time

2010-06-02T22:24:00.003+01:00

Where are my posts? Where is my work?

I recently had some of my work accepted by a London based image Library (Millennium Images) as to be honest I need to have photography begin to pay its way! So where is all my work, we'll I have been researching the fundamentals of photography and began to understand the medium and connect with the creation of images much more intensively.

This was in part spurred by looking at negatives and having some great shots that were poorly exposed or proccessed. So I have been on with standardizing my work flow more to achieve the results I want.

The result is around 40 films to process, and a still-to-do film testing to get the best out of the developing (research has led me to Barry Thornton's two bath method). So new work is there, but only in latent image form.

However this has been frustrating and today I decided to shoot how I felt (I know) and here are the results. They are rarely for me digital (EOS 5D MK11) which was for me great to use as it has been a long time since I saw anything I have shot, I have rolls that I forgot I ever shot.

I feel liberated but trapped, free but frustrated.

Jeff Cowen – Insight

2010-05-03T07:49:00.001+01:00

One of my all-time favorite photographers, please find his interview at...

http://www.jonathanstead.com/jeffcowen.html

Pinhole

2010-01-04T15:26:00.011Z

I have done a talk about pinhole photography to the photography students at Tameside College and thought I would upload a few notes that formed the basis of my talk.

What is a pinhole camera?

A simple pinhole camera is nothing more than a light-tight box or chamber, with a pinhole to admit light. A piece of light sensitive material, usually photographic paper or film, is then placed in the box, which records the light admitted by the pinhole.

Why would you use pinhole camera?

Simplicity is one of the fundamental appeals of a pinhole camera. They can easily be created with little more than a cardboard box and a sewing needle. In a world where even the most simple lens camera are quite expensive, creating images with a box destined for the bin can be a revelation.

Against the grain.

The history of photography is littered with advances and technological progress. Initially, photographic materials were very slow, that is an image took a long time to form, due the emulsions poor sensitivity to light. In order for photography to become a useful medium, improvements in the time taken to record an image had to be found.

Increased sensitivity of emulsions and better light transition to that emulsion via brighter lenses where pursued. Over the past 150 years those advances have resulted in today’s high-speed film, or expandable ISO sensors and super-bright lenses allow respectable images to be created in poor light with reasonably short exposures. A pinhole camera goes against this photographic development, to that end they capture images in a way that echoes the early experiments at the dawn of photography.

This is not to say that they were used in this period, the amount of light transmitted due to the tiny aperture was too small to record an image on the light sensitive materials of the time. Using pinhole cameras today takes us back to a more simple time, where long exposures where common. When shooting pinhole images it is easy to feel connected in a real way to the discovery of photography and each image can feel like a discovery.

The results are often exciting, the lack of viewfinder, the long exposure times and the personal qualities of each camera, all contribute to creating a sense of excitement and magic no-doubt enjoyed by early pioneers. With the technologically advanced, all bells and whistles cameras of today, to create an image with a box with a tiny aperture seems remarkable. The tiny aperture needed to form pinhole images creates two characteristics synonymous with the medium; a huge depth of field, indeed near and far objects are equally in focus, and exposures are long lasting, from seconds to minutes or even hours.

Using pinhole cameras.

The joy of pinhole is you can be as much a part of the process as you want to be, you can design a camera to get a particular shot, extreme wide angle, large format, curved film plane and pocket size cameras are all within reach. You can make tiny camera and load them with small pieces of film or you can convert an empty room into a huge camera.

Pinhole image making is a break away from today’s fast-paced digital world. It is slow, the materials needed are basic, and the process is dependant on the creativity of the artist. It is incredibly freeing, you no longer have to capture the world in 1/500th of a second, and you begin to see the world in units of anything from seconds to hours. Even on a bright day you are likely to spend a long time in one place as the camera records an image, there is no preview of what will be recorded. Initially you may be simply pointing a box at a subject and seeing what comes out. With time, you begin to learn what will be in the frame, however, no matter how experienced you may become, it is still a process that invites serendipity and the unknown.

The process is a collaboration between, camera, film, subject and photographer, each element can add something distinct to the process. The world of pinhole is full of new perspectives, experimentation and creativity. Standard formats and automatic cameras are replaced by an empty box and hope.

When you take out a pinhole camera, you start to look at places in different ways learning to mentally remove the clutter of the modern world. A pinhole camera distils the world to the elements that remain static for the length of the exposure; anything that moves will either become ghost-like or will not be recorded at all. It is about slowing down and taking time. You may not come home with hundreds of images that you have already seen the instant you took them, on a digital screen. You may however come home with a roll full or even just one, fragment of time on film that some how captured the place just how you remembered it.

It gives a balance to modern world with its super sharp, extraordinarily precise lenses and ever-expanding pixel counts. Pinhole photography is about capturing the world, not in the way we see it, perhaps the way we want it, or imagine it, to be. It is a stiller, simpler world where time becomes compressed and things are all a little soft focus.

Most people choose to make their own pinhole camera, there is a greater sense of ownership, the image only exists because you created the image-making device. It is easy to begin to design and create cameras to achieve particular shots or a particular feel to an image. Cameras can be made from anything from a discarded match box to capture the world from a previously unexplored perspective, unbeknown to passing people, or a wheelie bin could be loaded with photographic paper to create a mural sized family portrait or city street scene. Cameras can be made so small as to be thrown in a pocket before a night out and tacked to a wall to capture the evening’s entertainment. The possibilities are only limited imagination and are not confined by any pre-determined limitation.

How to start pinholing…

There are three options.

1. Buy a camera or pinhole body cap and begin.

A few companies out there produce great ready-made cameras that produce great results. Zero image is one such company and I have a few of there cameras and they are rugged, easy to use and look fantastic. Each camera comes with the correct fstop for the camera so exposures can be easily worked out.

2. Quickly make a camera and guess.

Any light-proof box will serve here, cardboard is easy to work with a hole needs to be cut in the box to take the aperture made through foil. The box needs to be light tight, seal up any holes with black tape. A small pinhole can be made with a sewing needle in tin foil, anything smaller than 1mm will work to some degree. Tape the pinhole over the larger hole in the box.

In darkness load the box with a sheet of film or paper tape the box shut and cover the pinhole until you wish to expose the image. After processing if the negative is dark it was overexposed, if the negative was light with only a trace of an image it was underexposed. Make adjustments and take more shots.

3. Creating a camera to achieve your vision.

With a little time and research it is easy to build a camera (or adapt an existing camera) that is as precise to use as any other camera. Photography is always based on calculations and science, so with knowledge, exact exposures can be achieved for any scenario.

Pinhole photography is extremely personal, and experiments away from the traditional genres of photography can be achieved. Extreme wide angle images can be achieved by short focal lengths, telephoto pinhole cameras can be made by using long focal lengths. Using cameras with a curved film plane, off centre or multiple pinholes, can create unusual effects. You are only limited by your vision and imagination.

First of all you need to find a light proof container to convert into a pinhole camera. This is the source of the varied nature of pinhole images as the container or box can be just about any size or shape, which in turn will have an effect on the look and feel of an image.

The next task is to gauge the centre of the object to drill or punch a hole about 6mm to hold your pinhole, the hole does not have to be in the centre and different effects will be achieved by placing the hole off-centre. Once you have found something you want to work with, you simply have to measure the distance between where you want the pinhole and where the paper or film will be. This is your focal length.

To create the correct size of pinhole for your focal length go to somewhere like www.mrpinhole.com, for example the correct size for a 30mm focal length pinhole is just under ¼ of a mm. With a magnifying glass, a small, sharp needle, and a ruler this is not too hard to achieve. Using such a website will also mean you can easily find the f-stop of your camera.

The next step is to make a pinhole, find some aluminium foil (the sort used for cake tins) a tiny needle and some emery cloth or fine sand paper. Sand the foil to make a small thin patch, slowly and carefully twist the needle into the foil, and gently rub the burr off with the emery cloth. Measure your pinhole with a magnifying lens and ruler, repeat until the optimum size of your pinhole is reached.

When the focal length is wide for the format, the image will suffer from light fall off creating an attractive vignette, bathing the centre of the image in light. Taken to extreme however a circular image will be formed if the angle is too wide. This could be utilised as a multi-pinhole camera, creating over lapping images.

To find correct exposure times for your f-stop, you can enter your f-stop at www.mrpinhole.com and an exposure chart will be generated. For any exposure over one second you need to compensate for reciprocity failure using the table below, this will be the correct exposure, this is relevant for film.

Reciprocity failure – long exposures.

Over long exposure films sensitivity to light effectively drops and has to be compensated for, use the table below to find out the correct exposure. The table is only based on Ilford film as that is all I work with. The indicated exposure is on the left and the correct exposure after compensation is on the right.

Ilford films.

5secs 12secs

10secs 30secs

15secs 50secs

20secs 85secs

25secs 2mins

30secs 3mins

1min 7mins

2min 20mins

Here it is appropriate to mention that exposure although fundamentally simple can seem quite complicated. Using the exact formulas to calculate the correct exposure will result in negatives with a full tonal range, however today’s film emulsions have a wide exposure latitude, meaning good results will be achieved with reasonable under or over exposure. Good results can be achieved by a sympathetic assessment of the light on a scene and educated guess work. Many well-regarded pinhole artist work without a light meter, knowing their camera, and working by experience.

If you want to achieve good results but wish to work without a light meter when shooting, you can do some initial testing to work out the correct exposure for different situations. Use a light meter or a in camera light meter, go out when its sunny and meter the light, record this and repeat in cloudy conditions and do the same indoors and any other light you will be working with. Work out and write down the correct exposures and then you will know your exposure for the given conditions. This approach will work well with the latitude of modern film freeing your reliance on technology altogether.

The world of pinhole is full of possibilities and can be tailored to capture just about any subject and cater for any photographic interest with a little applied imagination. It is easy to get a result, and if you find it captivating you can work to achieve really great results.

Paper negative

2010-01-02T22:19:00.006Z

I have been fascinated by the paper negative process ever since seeing the work of Andrew Sanderson (www.andrewsanderson.com). Recently I have been shooting some work for online image libraries and have been developing my technique using the process. Although I currently don't have my darkroom set up properly, I wanted to test a few shots out.

I love the texture of the paper that shows through on the print, the resulting images look like old engravings or pen drawings. The weather here in West Yorkshire has been has been damp and a lot of snow over the past few weeks. I went out with this process in mind a few weeks ago and chose a nearby wood to take advantage of the early morning mist.

I adore mist and its ability to separate tones and veil unimportant and unwanted elements of places. Although this was the first time I had been to this wood, it had a sense of mystery and a slightly eerie feel to it. The process of paper negative adds to this sense of mystery.

Although technically the images need more refinement in terms of tones images are close to what I visualized. I have also been working on some figure studies using photographic paper in the back of a 5x4 view camera, and getting negatives I am pleased with and look forward to printing.

Thoughts on large format

2010-01-01T21:45:00.005Z

Over this christmas break I have been using a monorail view camera for a few shots. It is surprising just how much this sort of camera slows you down, the cost of each image, the precision needed in the set up, and the size of the unit all makes for a certain dedication to each shot. Although I have shot a few shots on Ilford HP5 I have not yet processed it.

I had an idea for some reason for a shot, which came about when I was scouting round a house looking for possible backgrounds for images. I wanted to give the impression of a figure floating in space with a white 'floaty' dress in shot but out of focus. Once I had the idea, I began to play with the idea on paper and think of how to realize it. I chose Polaroid type 55 as my film as I adore the border and the imperfections in the negative. It adds a dimension no other film does, and has a very unique look. Although I still have an unopened box I really take care when using it as it is £7 a shot and no longer produced anymore.

Although I had a clear idea what I was after I had to see the shot on the ground glass screen, when I was happy with the composition I took the shot (due to the poor light the exposure was ten seconds). MOre than with any other film it is important to get the correct composition with Polaroid type 55 as it is impossible to crop the image or the border... which adds so much to the image, would be lost.

The Polaroid, now well out of date, has a chemical unpredictability that I find really exciting. One huge disappointment however is when an image doesn't come out...I did make another exposure and although I am pretty sure I did everything correct, no image came out at all and I was left with a chemical soup on my negative.

The more I work with large format the more I feel it suits my way of working, I enjoy dedicating so much time and energy to a single frame. I find myself not prepared to take a shot if I am not so sure as it just becomes a waste of energy, with smaller formats it is easy to 'take a quick shot just incase'.

Liquid emulsion as a negative.

2009-12-10T18:34:00.004Z

Back in the studio testing hand coated paper negatives. I'm not crazy about the texture of the paper showing so much so thinking of looking for a suitable smooth paper for the process. The model in the first three images was Jo, who I find a fascinating person. The exposures were each twelve seconds so the images capture tiny movements and distill only elements that are constant through the entire exposure, I like the thought of compressing time within a single image.

I am intrigued by the lack of control with this process and there is a sense of magic when the negative appears in the developer as there is no way of knowing how well the paper was coated and if the image will have elements missing where there was no emulsion. When coating the paper I try not to be too perfect as to create imperfections as I find the mistakes in the process interesting. I purposely don't look at the subject as I press the shutter and don't particularly direct them in terms of poses and facial expressions, again adding to the sense of magic when the negative appears.

Jo was late, so I did a couple of test with India.

India disappeared and so Lucy stepped in.

Serendipity.

Spare liquid emulsion.

2009-12-08T17:40:00.003Z

Bad day in darkroom, but had some 5x4 coated paper ready for use as a negative, but just experimenting with this as an idea. This is newly coated paper on a rough watercolor paper, I think I'd prefer a smoother paper in the future so less of the texture shows.

Testing an idea: hand coated paper negative

2009-12-04T17:06:00.004Z

More studio work, one idea I was playing with was using hand-coated paper negatives. These were made with Silverprint SE1 emulsion. Although I think the process has some possibilities the paper I used in the test was some very old stuff I coated around three years ago, so the paper exhibits some kind of pepper fogging.

Due to the slow speed of the paper, and my dislike of flash (I tend to use the modeling lights which are contant) the images were around 20 second exposures, adding a slight element of movement to the image.

I have recently coated some fresh paper and will try a repeat over the next few weeks. Thanks to India for sitting for the tests.

Studio

2009-12-02T19:19:00.007Z

Shooting in the studio can be both liberating and restrictive. Today I was experimenting in the studio using pretty simple light set ups. Although I feel pretty comfortable in the studio I wouldn't say it was my preferred way of shooting. The ability to control every element of the shoot can be liberating, however, the studio can sometimes feel sterile and uninteresting.

Although shooting for a personal project I was experimenting with light and focus to change the relationship between viewer and subject. Using a large format camera with movements allows the focus to be 'thrown' to any part of the image.

I am often drawn to solitary objects and images that portray solitude. I am interested in images of where things are in a state of peace and tranquility, it is almost a state that exists no-where else other than in a single moment captured on film. On reflection I have noticed this is a thread running through a lot of my work. For this shoot I wanted a classical look to the images, India brought along a few things and I was drawn to the almost Victorian feel to the dress she ended up wearing.

I like to work intuitively in the studio, although I have a basic idea before the shoot I tend to work quite freely. Playing with light and focus on the subject I wanted to capture the shots between shots. Shooting India, I get the impression she begins to get absorbed in her own thoughts after a while, it is in these moments I feel I captured a moment that sums her up as a person.

Up-coming projects and ideas.

2009-11-29T17:14:00.000Z

Although being able to concentrate on photography full time is fantastic, it does create the issue of having to decide how best to spend time and what projects to develop and spend time with. I personally work best, working with different projects at the same time, picking away at each as and when inspiration strikes.

I currently have a few projects 'in the pipeline' that I need to do a little research and development of my ideas before I can start.

One of these projects is a very large camera for use as a portrait camera. I am considering using 20x24 paper as the negative, which would then be contact printed to create a 20x24" print. This, however, brings up a few problems, one of which is the availability of a lens. I am looking into large, old lenses, used on early cameras around the turn of last century, this are large heavy lenses that will have the correct focal length. Once this obstacle has been overcome, the biggest issue is the amount of light/exposure time required to create an image on paper, which may make the exposures un-feasibly long.

I am also researching into artist books. I have been using the special collections at Manchester Met. This collection is vast and specialises in rare and unique books. The Lith images (part of the withdrawn project) are going to be the content of the book, but I am researching into the various ways to output the book in order to create a low run, bespoke, high quality artist book. I am very interested in the tactile and intricate nature of fine artist books and so far have only really designed and published books for commercial clients as a graphic designer.

One of the other projects to do, is something I would describe as 'photographing imaginary forces' (working title), this will be a series of portraits where the subject is physically reacting to the light source they are photographed under. After enlargement in the darkroom, the images would be developed selectively with photographic chemicals, to create an other worldly landscape that the subject is interacting with. This would create a unseen narrative (a word I hate) not present at the time of image creation. I like the idea of creating something after the image capture using the very process of analogue photography.

Paper negative, lensbaby.

2009-11-27T18:23:00.000Z

Although shot a few months ago, this image has attracted a lot of questions on my flickr page. The image is a result of the lens (a lensbaby) which is a selective focus lens that has a sweet spot of focus, I tend to use this pretty open, often f2.8 or f4 which creates a very small area of focus. I then created a paper inter-negative which is a paper negative the same size as the final print, this is then contact printed to create the final image. The texture is a result of the fibers of the paper showing as the contact print is made.

Although pretty complicated process, I think the results are worth while, it can take some experimenting but a pretty good tonal range can be produced, as well as the pleasing mottled effect. When I have some more time I will be working again with this process and will produce some larger prints as I have been working pretty small in the past.

Paper portraits

2009-11-25T21:01:00.001Z

These images were long exposure 8x10 paper negatives. This process creates great skin tones due to the sensitivity of the paper. The slow process and sensitivity results in a images that look similar to early images created around the birth of photography.

Lith printing

2009-11-25T20:29:00.000Z

I have recently been concentrating on Lith printing in the darkroom. The pinhole images are part of a book project I am developing featuring withdrawn objects, objects that have been withdrawn form people lives and deemed not needed anymore. These objects often have a character and almost a personality of their own.

Lomo camera, found withdrawn on ebay.

Two hundred year old shoe, found withdrawn in the weavers drying shed attached to our home.

Cabbage leaf, found withdrawn in the compost bin.

Mask, found withdrawn at a second hand stall.

Personal portrait.

2009-11-25T19:11:00.000Z

Some more Lith printing, a personal portrait, looking at long exposures and how they can distill a persons character.

I enjoy working with process that allows an element of chance and surprise.