Pictorialism

A BRIEF OVERVIEW & SOME HISTORY

Over the past several years, I’ve been very interested in pictorialism. After nearly 40 years of making mostly “straight” photographs, I’ve grown tired and bored of working like that. It doesn’t speak to me anymore. I’m not excited to look at “straight” photographs anymore. I suppose I’m looking for more expression. More of the “hand” in the work. More poetry. More something! I understand why this movement came about.

In undergraduate school, I was pushed to get out of my comfort zone photographically, and it was very good for me. I learned a lot about making pictures. It happened in graduate school as well but in a different way. I loved it. But I couldn’t make a living working that way. It’s the old cliche of “starving artist”. I always fell back into the “commercial” mode. How to pay my bills and feed my family was always a concern and influenced the majority of what I did. What would sell? What would get me into galleries? What jobs are available? What does the market want? Etcetera, etcetera… a tough world to live in. I will say that I feel like a lot of my portraiture work was not conventional and pushed against the tide of capitalism at least a little bit. It was a very bright spot in all of my work and didn’t feel so “commercial”. Although, in the end, it was.

I worked as a photojournalist for many years and eventually spent 20 years working as a photographer for the U.S. Government. I took early retirement in order to pursue my passion full-time. I enjoyed my career. I traveled the world and made pictures. It was good, no regrets. Between that and my personal work, exhibitions, teaching, and publishing books, it’s provided what I have now. Jeanne and I live on 12 acres in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The solitude is priceless. I have no words to describe how much gratitude I have for my life - I’m living my dream. And I couldn’t have done any of it without my wife, Jeanne. We’ve been married 31 years this August.

Having said that, the commercial pursuit is not an issue for me anymore. At 58 years old, I’m all about making work that moves me, that speaks to me whether the masses like it or not. Don’t misunderstand me, I will sell prints and books, and I do, but it doesn’t drive the work as it did before. The work I make now is not connected to any commercial endeavor like before. What freedom! I truly feel like I’ll make my best work over the coming years because of that. A huge weight and obligation have been lifted and I’m very grateful for that.

WHERE DOES PICTORIALISM FIT?

First, what is pictorialism? Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries (1885 - 1915). There is no standard definition of the term, but in general, it refers to a style in which the photographer has somehow manipulated what would otherwise be a “straight” photograph as a means of "creating" an image rather than simply recording it. I like what photographer Sandy King said, “Only images which show the personality of the maker, generally through hand manipulation, can be considered works of art.

- An interest in the effect and patterns of natural lighting in the outdoor landscape

- An impressionistic rendering of the scene, in which overall effect is more important than detail

- The use of symbolism or allegory to reveal a message

- The use of alternative printing processes: carbon and carbro, gum bichromate, oil and bromoil, direct carbon, and platinum.

A review of the techniques Pictorialists used to convert the camera into something closer to a paintbrush is also enlightening.  These included darkroom manipulation; the combining of multiple negatives; the use of artisan emulsions; alternative printing methods using gum bichromate and gum bromoil; the use of paintbrushes and handmade paper.  In addition to giving the pictures their unique look, these techniques also ensured that no two prints looked identical, even if they came from the same negative.”

I would add to this quote “narrative”. I think it’s very important for art to tell a story of some kind. Pretty pictures are great, but they are so much more powerful when context and intention are present - a narrative. Also, the processes listed are not all of them that can achieve this aesthectic. There are many more that will answer to pictorialism. The Kallitype (below) is an example of that.

I agree that oil printing is probably one of the best printing processes to use for pictorialism. I’ll be making a few of them with my new collodion dry plate negatives over the next few days. Let’s see if they have the “pictorialist” aesthetic. I have high hopes and will work until I achieve want I want.

A platinum toned Kallitype on Revere Platinum paper. This is from a collodion dry plate negative.

Oil Prints From Collodion Dry Plate Negatives

PIGMENT PRINTS
Over the past couple of years, I’ve talked a lot about making Rawlins Oil Prints. And specifically, Oil Prints on glass. You can visit my YouTube channel and watch me make both paper prints and glass prints. And now that I have a couple of good collodion dry plate negatives, I’m getting set up to run some Oil Prints.

My interest is two-fold; first, I want to have some ability to manipulate the image. Not only color but what you want to emphasize or not. This process allows you to do that. Secondly, I have the ability to create “color” images. I don’t mean RGB color images, I mean I can apply different colors of ink to the print. I prefer Senefelder's Crayon Black (1803) and Black lithographic ink.

This is how it works: Apply an 8% solution of gelatin onto a good paper. I use Photo Bloom 250, but you can use regular Knox plain gelatin from the grocery store. I like several papers; Hahnemühle Platinum Rag, Arches Platine, and Revere Platinum. I’ve also used Yupo paper. It’s a “plastic” paper that works well and clears fast, but I’m not a big fan of plastic photographs.

After the gelatin is dry, apply a 10% dichromate/acetone (or alcohol) mixture. This is what sensitizes the gelatin. Allow the sensitizer to dry and the paper is ready for the negative and for the exposure. What happens is when the strong UV light hits the gelatin where the shadow areas are, it hardens the gelatin. The highlights are basically unexposed and the gelatin remains.

After exposure, wash the dichromate from the gelatin. This takes about 20 minutes. The gelatin will clear and it will swell, too. This is called a matrix. The swollen gelatin refers to the highlights in the image and the non-swollen, or hardened gelatin refers to the shadow areas.

Time to “ink-up” the print. With the matrix swollen, use any lithographic ink and slowly apply it to the print. It will ink the shadow areas and the swollen gelatin in the highlights will resist the ink. This is where it gets its name, “Oil Printing” like oil and water - resistance. The highlights stay “paperwhite” and the shadows are full of ink.

There are a lot more subtleties to inking up and it takes practice and time. The ability to make really fine, exquisite prints is very achievable. They are very painterly and would fall into the category of Pictorialism. This is an aesthetic that I’m very interested in applying to this work. Stay tuned!

My Testing Is Finished - The Collodion Dry Plate Processes

IT’S A WRAP!
I’ve come to the end of my technical explorations for making negatives. It’s been over a year of reading, writing, doing my YouTube shows, and testing Collodion Dry Plate processes. So what’s next? Keep reading, I’ll get to that.

I started this journey because I needed to find a collodion dry plate process for my new project. A project dealing with the land that I live on and was once occupied by the Ute Indian Tribe. Sacred places, objects, fauna, trees, etc.

The obvious reason for using a dry plate process is that you don’t need to pack a darkroom, chemicals, etc. Just the plates, camera, lens, tripod, loupe, and timer. It’s wonderful. It’s liberating. I really love it. There’s freedom with it to photograph things and places that have never been photographed this way. Some of the places I will photograph require a 45- minute hike to get to them, one way. There’s no way wet collodion can be used in this way.

I’ve settled on Thomas Sutton’s version of Major Russell’s Tannin Dry Plate process. You can find it in his book, “The Collodion Processes: Wet & Dry” London, 1862. I’ve modified a bit for my workflow and my environment (in the mountains at high elevation). Why did I select this? To me, it gives the best negative for printing Platinum Palladium and Kallitypes. I can get a 1.5 - 2.0 negative every time. Consistency is key. Collodio-Albumen is wonderful, but I want to work faster than that process allows; both in preparation and exposure. I still have a lot to figure out for the exact details of the project; they will reveal themselves as I make the work. I’m sure of it.

POETIC LICENSE
I do know that I want something “more” for this work. I’m bored by the look of a straight photograph. I originally wanted to do “f/64” type of landscape images. I know that’s not who I am and it really leaves me wanting and unexcited. I’m a portrait photographer by profession (30+ years), and, as an artist, desire that aesthetic show in this work. I’m not talking about creating artifacts or embracing technical flaws, I’m talking about an aesthetic that shows compassion, creativity, and beauty in the work. Like you’re reading a great piece of poetry or looking at a powerful portrait. I’ve often said that I’m a frustrated painter. It’s true, I’ve always attempted to show emotion in my work; subtle or bold, I’m always after something that moves me visually. The “straight” photograph doesn’t move me. It bores me for the most part, I’ve seen them so many times, they all look the same, and they do nothing for me. If you’re after a technical assignment or a commissioned work, employ that. It’s what the masses want to see. I don’t. So I’m approaching this project in my own way, taking poetic license.

Platinum Palladium Print. Ute Indians believe that the Ponderosa Pine tree brings specific medicine, food, and carries a sacred spark of the Great Spirit. If you look closely, on the center-right, you can see a “face” (profile) of a Native American looking across the image in the background. Amazing gift! My wife, Jeanne found this studying the print.

Collodion Dry Plate Negative. April 8, 2022 - Rocky Mountains, Colorado.

The print dried down. 4 minute exposure in the Colorado sun!

Looks really amazing with a matte over it. I absolutely love this print. The light up here is amazing and it shows here. Very other-worldly!

Collodion Dry Plate Exposures; My Approach

Please keep in mind, that this is not gospel. It’s based on an increase of 10 times the exposure at ISO 3. That seems to be a fair estimate for the dry collodion process. You may find that it’s more like 8 times or 6 times (as the old literature says), but it only takes a plate or two and you’ll know.

When developing the plate, you should see the highlights within about 3-5 minutes (the sky, bright objects, etc.). The entire plate should be fully out within 10 minutes. If the highlights appear in 1 minute, you are overexposed. If they don’t appear for 5 minutes, you are underexposed. Simple.

To begin with, you need to determine what preservative you’re using. I’m testing T. Sutton’s “Rapid Dry Plate” process right now. That takes a “special” collodion and gum arabic as the preservative. Sutton claims these are as fast (exposure) as wet collodion negatives. We’re going to find out in the next couple of days.

For this question, I’ll address how I figure out exposure for Sutton’s Collodion Dry Plate using tannic acid. It would be nice to know what the ISO/ASA is, but it’s so slow (10x slower than wet collodion) not really feasible to approach exposure from that angle. Here’s what I do.

First, download the “Pinhole Assist” app. I’ve been using this app since 2010. A workshop student in Paris developed it and turned us all on to it during the workshop. He incorporated more wet collodion features in it after the workshop to include super low ISO/ASA and a really good/accurate calculation for exposure. The pinhole features were already there and help with what we do. Now, the collodion dry plate needs some help. Here’s what I do: Meter the scene at ISO/ASA 3.2 and set your f/stop. I have screenshots here showing the scene and the numbers. If the app says 1/2 second (.5) times that by 1024 = 512/60= 8.53 minutes for exposure. It’s a 10-stop increase from ISO 3.2. Easy, quick, and simple.

ISO/ASA 3.2 with f/16 and .5 seconds. Translated for Collodion Dry Plate: .5 seconds times 1024 = 512/60= 8.53 minutes for a Tannin Dry Plate. Notice where I am metering the scene - very important to expose for the shadows/midtones.

What Role Do Bromides Play In Collodion Dry Plate?

As most of you know, I’ve been experimenting with different types of Collodion Dry Plate processes. Collodio-Albumen, Tannin, and Gum Arabic. I may try the Coffee process at some point, too.

I’ve used Thomas Sutton and James Mudd for most of my recipes and work methodologies. Today, I prepared and exposed two (Sutton) Rapid Dry Plates. Sutton calls for gum arabic as the preservative. He also lays out carefully what role bromides play in the process. Hint: It’s huge and will not work if you’re off. See excerpt below.

I also made a new batch of collodion for his Rapid Dry Plate process. If everything goes right, I’ll be getting Wet Collodion Negative “speed” with these plates. That would be the best of both worlds.

Thomas Sutton from The Collodion Process: Wet and Dry - 1862

If you understand the daguerreotype process, it will apply to the Rapid Dry Plate process. Iodides alone will not give an image (in dry plate). The same for a daguerreotype plate only fumed over iodine. There’s a reason they called the bromine fuming, “Quick Stuff”. I’ll leave it at that for now. Stay tuned for some Collodion Rapid Dry plates!

Whole plate Collodion Dry Plate - using gum arabic as the preservative. April 2, 2022 - Colorado U.S.A.

What's Going On With The Color of Your Negatives?

You’ll read in the old literature about the “color” of negatives and how to achieve the best density. Since the process is mainly sensitive to UV light, the more “warm” color negatives give the best density for printing.

Sutton and Mudd talk about using certain chemicals to achieve a “red” or “brown” negative. If you look on the visual light spectrum, you’ll see that red, or “brown” would block more (UV) light than a neutral color (gray/black). There are ways to achieve this in development and fix. I’ve always gone for the “red” negatives. They print really well and look great!

Collodion Dry Plate Negative photographed on my light table - 5600K and not adjusted.

Fremont County, Colorado - Plate #1

A pure Palladium print from a dry collodion negative.

Fremont County, Colorado - Plate #1

This is an iPhone snap of the print in the wash water. It’s a beautiful negative and makes a wonderful print.

Platinum Palladium Prints from Dry Collodion Negatives

I really enjoy making negatives and printing. In the collodion world, it’s easy to get swept up in the simple direct positives (Ambrotype and Tintypes) and never pursue the “real” thing. A lot of it is the “wow” factor. When you’re doing public demonstrations, workshops, or just making Ambrotypes and Tintypes on your own, you and/or the people you’re “performing” for, get to see the positive reveal itself in the fix. It’s fun, and there are always “oohs” and “ahhs” in a crowd. The positive process is simple, easy, and relatively inexpensive. After 20 years of doing that and only making negatives on the side, I wanted to move on. My heart and my desire have always been with the negative and the print.

There’s so much more information in a negative. Positives can’t capture nearly as much. In reality, a positive is a very underexposed negative and it is under-developed too. Underexposing by definition means that you are lacking information. Chemically speaking, a positive contains very little density or information. And above all of it is the fact that you can make many prints (and some different kinds too). You have so many options for toning, color, texture (type of paper), and just overall more flexibility with negatives.

I’ve made wet collodion negatives since 2004, but not like what I’m doing now. My full attention is directed toward one goal; making the finest negative I can and the most revealing print (s) possible. It’s exciting to explore the possibilities. I am limiting myself to wet and dry collodion plates and prints in the siderotype family. I’ll more than likely make all of this work in Collodion Dry Plate and print with Platinum Palladium, Kallitypes, and maybe Argyrotypes. I’m experimenting with all of them. I’ve just ordered the chemistry for the Argyrotypes. My friend in Argentina turned me onto it - thanks, Pablo. I’ll post some prints in the next few days. It’s a process created by Mike Ware. The two guys that did the POP Platinum - Ware and Malde. Really great stuff!

I apologize about the iPhone photo, but you get the idea. This is a Platinum Palladium (mostly Palladium) print from a dry collodion negative.

I apologize about the iPhone photo, but you get the idea. This is a Platinum Palladium (mostly Palladium) print from a dry collodion negative.

Gum Over Palladium from Collodion Negative

I’m juggling a lot of processes and experiments. It’s a lot of fun. I am so grateful that I can do this full-time. I used to struggle with fitting in my “technical experiments” between jobs. No more. Amazing what you can accomplish when you are left alone with old books, chemicals, and a camera. What’s not to love.

Here, I’m exploring another important part of my project. I want to give a very subtle color to my prints. Red is the color I’m after. The Utes called this area, “Red Mother Earth” - actually going through Black Canyon, they passed massive red rock outcroppings. The Garden of the Gods is all red too.

So, how do I accomplish this? Easy; Gum Over Palladium, Platinum, etc., etc. You can add as many “layers” as you want. I use transparent pigment (Red Oxide in this case) so it gives a hint of color but also depth. I’m after both.

It’s quite simple to do. Mix the gum arabic, pigment, and dichromate up, roll it on the print, let it dry, register the negative again, expose it - 80% to 100% of the original time, depending on what you’re going for and then wash away the dichromates and gum (where it was blocked).

This is a Platinum Palladium Print on Revere Platinum paper pre-gum over application.

This is a Platinum Palladium Print on Revere Platinum paper post-gum over application.

The Studio Q Show Saturday March 19, 2022 at 1000 MST

For the past couple of months, I’ve taken a break from the Saturday show. I needed time to work on testing several dry plate processes for my project. I’ve gathered enough information now, I’d like to share some of it with you if you are interested. I know that most people aren’t, and that’s okay.

This coming Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 1000 MST I’ll be broadcasting live to talk about what I’ve been doing for the last two months. I’ll share some tests from my dry plate experiments and talk about siderotype prints. I’ll share what I’ve discovered and what my approach will be for my work. If you’re interested in the (collodion) dry plate processes and siderotype printing, be sure to join us.

My Chamonix 10x10 camera holding its own in Guffey canyon. Making a 5-minute exposure of the valley floor and rock structures.

The negative that was made hanging off the cliff (or almost).