I told you I would share my approach to the visuals and how I’m resolving the aesthetic that I want for this work. In other words, how am I printing and presenting the work?
First, let’s talk about the negatives. I’m making both wet and dry collodion negatives. To me, they are pretty much the same other than exposure time for prints. I find that sometimes, the dry collodion negatives require twice the light/time compared to the wet collodion negatives.
I’m using 1/2” (1.27cm) rubylith tape on the edges of my negatives. I’m doing this for two reasons. First, I want a “clean” look. And secondly, the 6.5” x 8.5” matboard opening will give that same dimension around the print. When I start mounting these, I’ll show you what I mean. You can get the idea from the images I’ve posted here with the images in the matboards. It creates a “depth” for viewing and “breathing” space for the photograph.
I’m trying to make two prints per day that are completely archival and printed to the perfect specifications that I want. There is a certain color, texture, and value I want for every print. Out of the 40 negatives so far, I’ve selected six for the final cut. That may change as time goes on, but for now, they are in the final. I can explain more about that as I include context for the images.
With my Ryonet UV printer, I can document each negative, chemistry, and exposure time and get a great copy of the print. I can’t do that with the sun. It’s too varied and I would waste paper and chemistry. I plan to do five (5) prints of each image. One for a book I’m doing - tipped in Platinum Palladium prints - more on that later, and four sets of exhibition and sale prints. I may offer up to send to Europe for shows and maybe the east coast here in America. In other words, this project will be “editioned” - only five prints of each (final) negative will exist.
I’m working every day on this project and I feel like I’ve got traction now. I feel it coming together. A big part of my methodology involves resolving the technical portion as well as the presentation or the visuals of the work. That helps me make photographs that are congruent and “inline” with the narrative. A technical and visual roadmap if you will. When I’m not making photographs or printing, I’m reading, writing, and researching. I'll share some of the text with you later. I’m not going to “title” these images. They are simply going to be called, “Plate #1, Plate #2, Plate #3”, etcetera. There will be a small paragraph of text with the plate number giving context to the photograph. As well as the technical information, i.e. Whole Plate Platinum Palladium print made from a wet/dry collodion negative. Etc. etc. etc.
