Antithetical Direction?

As I get older, I find myself in direct opposition to “popular views”. In other words, when the crowds go to the right, I go to the left. That kind of thing. I tend to be the opposite most of the time. And I think for good reasons. I consider myself a rational and reasonable person. I try to think things through with reason and logic. And, as Socrates said, I try to “examine” myself on a regular basis. I try to critically think about my choices in life. For you spontaneous people, those are scary words. I know, but that’s how I’m built.

This theory, or approach to life, really applies directly to my art-making process. Photography specifically. I’ve talked a lot about having reasons for making certain choices when making art. So when it’s applied to photography I ask what processes, what formats, etc. I believe there should be good reasons, as personal as they may be, for every choice. Nothing should be random. I also believe you should be able to defend those decisions when questioned or challenged.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the format choice I’ve made for this current project (“In the Shadow of Sun Mountain”). After deciding to explore making a book, or books, of this work, I may end up making a format change too.

I’m currently working in the Whole Plate format (6.5” x 8.5” - 16.51 x 20.32cm). It’s a period-correct format, popular in the middle of the 19th century. And it’s a beautiful format to look at and to work with. However, I’m thinking about working in the Half Plate format (4.25” x 5.5” - 10.79 x 13.97cm). There are two reasons for this. The first is aesthetics. My 19th-century optics are mostly designed for this format. Plates made with these lenses look stunning. Period. And secondly, it would allow me to make books (handmade) that are 8” x 10” (20.32 x 25.4cm) and the images would sit nicely in portrait or landscape orientation. No limitations on what I want to say photographically.

It seems counterintuitive to go smaller, doesn’t it? When everyone wants bigger, bigger, bigger and I’m saying smaller, smaller, smaller. Why is this? I think it hinges on my desire for this work to be intimate, to be personal to the viewer. That’s the reason I want to make a book, or books, of the work too. It assures two things; the work will always be together and seen as a narrative, not one-off pieces. As well as preserving the integrity of the permanency of the work. And, it would be a lot more archival presented and stored this way.

I’m going to make a few negatives and prints in this format and live with them for a while. If it works, I’ll make it happen - all Half Plate work. If it doesn’t, I’ll keep going with Whole Plate.

Making New Negatives of the Same Places in Beautiful Light

The light here today was super lovely. It’s been raining and it’s cool today. I really try to take advantage of this incredible light when it’s here. I’m so grateful for it! I was supposed to be cleaning and organizing my studio and darkroom, and making new chemistry today. I let all that go and made a couple of new negatives for my project. The light was just too nice to pass up. I regret it when I don’t take advantage of it.

The first one, plate #106 is a vertical image of the same little Ponderosa Pine sitting in the middle of a huge (granite) rock bed. I have a beautiful landscape (oriented) of the same scene. That one is a dry collodion negative. I printed it as a Palladiotype and modern Kallitype. This new one is a wet collodion negative. It will be printed as an “old school” Kallitype.

The second plate, plate #107 is the same scene I made an image of a week or two ago. The light today really enhances the quality of the wood and little flowers. It was actually raining when I made these exposures. I love the ground and all of the wood wet. It gives it a rich and deep look.

So why did I make new negatives of the same scenes? Well, I’m seriously considering making a book of this work. Not a “printing press” book, or Amazon book, but a handmade, hand-bound book. Another true work of art. Can you imagine? Art wrapped in art. I’m remaking some of the work so that the images are all vertical. I’m not sure if that will matter or not, but that was the thought. And again, the light!

The book would consist of the prints, and writing bound together on rag paper (the actual prints). The text will accompany the prints on the opposite pages and will be printed as well. More on that later. I’m still working out the details, but feel really good about this direction.

I’m thinking rather than having “hanging” exhibitions, it would be interesting to have the handmade book available to view - one or two people at a time. That idea of intimacy really resonates with me. That’s how I would like this work to be seen. Not framed and behind glass, hanging on a wall. Up close and personal. And then there’s the metaphor of the book. Stephen King said, "books are a uniquely portable magic." I couldn’t agree more. I know people nowadays don’t read much. And some say that books (the physical ones) are going away. It’s a scary thought, but it has some merit. Technology is a double-edged sword for sure.

I’ll write about this more in the future. As I always say, things change. This is just a general direction for now, stay tuned to see what happens!

This print is on Arches paper and is not toned. I’ll make a book print on HPR or Revere Platinum tomorrow.

Three Aspens Printed In The Old Kallitype Method

Eventually, you come to a point in a project where you want to start considering the final print. I’m getting close. I still have a lot of work to do, but the 100+ negatives I’ve made tell me that I’m dialed in and ready to consider the final prints. I will add a caveat before I write what I’m about to write. Things change. This is where I feel like I am today, almost a year after I started (September 2021). I’m 95% confident that next year you’ll see a body of work made in this printing process for the final body of work.

I’m working with some old printing techniques, still figuring them out, and I feel that I’m close to having them where I want for the color, the texture, and the permanency. I’m real close.

I printed and (slightly) palladium-toned this image today. I call it “Three Aspens & Three Flowers”. A really nice wet collodion negative. It embodies a lot of what I’m trying to do with these images. It fits the narrative well. It’s loaded with metaphor and it’s beautiful. The old-school Kallitype process that I’m using really adds a lot to the image. I find the prints from the process unique in their quality, color, and richness.

The Buffalo Head & Antlers aka Plate #104

In this work, I’m dedicated to a certain “look and feel” of the prints. It’s very important that I make that happen. I won’t be satisfied until I do. What am I after? Think of Edward Curtis’s beautiful prints from his “Vanishing Race” series. They were made with a different printing process, but they are still “warm” and “poetic” for the most part. My work is completely different, I’m only talking about the final prints, and how they “look and feel”.

You can get a good idea of what I’m after here with the old-school Kallitype printing. This is really a beautiful and engaging process. It’s a perfect match for my project. I’m just getting it sorted out, but what I see so far. it’s spot on for what I’m looking for.

This is an old school Kallitype. It’s not toned. It’s a wonderful rendition of what Kallitypes looked like back in the day (1890s).

"In the Shadow of Sun Mountain" Plate #104

I’m deep diving into the Kallitype printing process. I’ve fallen for it in a big way. I have a workflow for this project that is almost perfect. The technical is worked out (at least for this version of the process) and I’m very confident of the archivable quality of the prints.

I have the wet, and dry, collodion negative process dialed in to make very nice prints with no redevelopment or additional steps. My negative density is between 1.8 - 2.0 and my development time runs from 45 seconds to 1 minute with the wet negatives and 10 - 15 minutes for the dry negatives. All of my chemistry is dialed in, too.

Along with all of that, I’ve decided that I’m only using my Petzval lenses for this work. I’ve discussed before why I’ve made that choice, but it’s based on the painterly quality and the natural look and feel, or signatures these lenses give to the subject matter. On top of that, they are from the time period I’m referencing in the project (1850s - 1880s).

The Dried Down Toned Kallitype Prints

If you play with the technical end of photography enough, you can get exactly what you’re after. After a few months dialing in what I want, I think I’ve found the magic recipe and the prints are exactly what I want for this work. I wish you see them IRL - in real life. I apologize for the iPhone snaps, but that’s the best I can do for now. One day, some of you might be able to see the entire body of work in an exhibition. We’ll see what happens!

Prickly Pear Catci Patch and Aspen Growing Out of Granite

It’s a difficult task to make work that’s original and authentic. Not allowing the “outside noise” to come in and influence you is also a chore. Influence is incessant. It can be a good thing, but mostly it’s not. Copying or emulating someone or some style is fine as an exercise to work toward something of your own. To live in that space and constantly mimic or replicate work that has already been done is derivative. And that’s not good.

So how do you overcome this problem? The way I do it is to write about my project, think (deeply) about my work, and spend time observing the land, the objects, and the places that I want to make images of - that includes light, directions, perspectives, etc. I get an image in my mind that is directly correlated and supported by the narrative of the work, and I make plates until I have something I want to print. My photographs are loaded with metaphors. It takes time to really observe them and understand what I’m saying non-verbally. I spend a lot of time working out ideas and trying my best to include things that cannot be written about.

I enjoyed undergraduate and graduate school because there were like-minded people I could share work and get feedback from. Work shouldn’t be made in a vacuum; it’s should be made with constructive feedback from people you trust. And even then, the feedback should be taken with caveats. Another reason to reach out and communicate is connection. People that share common interests can turn you on to writers, books, film, and art of all disciplines that may help you find your way through your project. This kind of influence can be good if it’s taken with limitations.

THE PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS
Prickly pear fruit and nopales were used by Native Americans to treat a variety of physical ailments. Nopales in particular were split and applied to open wounds on both humans and animals. Roasted nopales were held on the side of the neck or below the chin to treat rheumatism and mumps. Spines from prickly pear pads were commonly used as needles by many tribes. The deep reds and purples of the tunas were extracted as juice and used to dye textiles.

The Great Mullein Flowering & Aspen Trees

THE GREAT MULLEIN (IN FLOWER)
Many tribes employed the use of mullein leaf tea for coughs, colds, and rheumatism. They considered it to be analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and expectorant. The astringent and demulcent properties of the leaf tea were found useful in cases of diarrhea.

I’m working hard to dial in what I want to do when it comes to making my prints. I know I vacillate a lot on what I want these images to end up as; i.e. what kind of printing process I want to use and how they are presented in the end. It’s not a question of cost or time or anything that might be inconvenient. It’s simply a matter of aesthetics.

As of today, I think I’ve committed to the toned Kallitype print. The reason for this is twofold; first, and foremost the color, or color control. I am enamored with the red tones I can get. They are representative of this area, the Utes called this area, “Red Mother Earth.” And they really have a dream-like, historic quality.

Some of the prints I’ve made lately remind me of Edward Curtis’s POP prints. Warm and gorgeous. So, bottom line is that this workflow allows me to stay consistent and achieve what I want for this project. It goes to show that you always want to remain open in the discovery phase of a project. Being dead-set on something can really pull the work down and possibly even make it fail. When I started this project, almost a year ago now, I never thought I would end up printing toned Kallitypes from my negatives. Never say never!

You can start to see where I’m going with the work - although the printing processes are different, the matching and diptychs possibilities are there. The Aspen cut I photographed last week, matches up well with this image.

3 ASPEN TREES & 3 FLOWERS
Native Americans heavily relied on aspen, It was a great source of food, medicine, and wood for them. Many medicinal uses relied on the presence of salicin and populin, two precursors of aspirin that are present to some degree in all members of the genus Populus.

Aspen Tress - Looking East, Toward Tava (Sun Mountain)

ASPEN TREE

Native Americans heavily relied on aspen, It was a great source of food, medicine, and wood for them. Many medicinal uses relied on the presence of salicin and populin, two precursors of aspirin that are present to some degree in all members of the genus Populus.

White Sage & Blue Grama Grass

WHITE SAGE
White sage is used in many Native American or Indigenous cultures. Usually known as “smudging sage”. It has been used traditionally to purify the mind, body, and spirit before praying. Native Americans also used white sage in ceremonies of birth and death. Sacred objects such as pipes and eagle feathers were passed through the smoking of burning white sage in order to purify them.

BLUE GRAMA GRASS
It can be ground into a powder, mixed with water, and eaten as a mush, often with corn meal. It is also used to make bread. It is also an important grazing food for mule deer, elk, and bison all of which the Ute/Tabeguache hunted and relied on for food, shelter, and tools.

The lenses I’m using for this project. From left to right; Dallmeyer 3B (290mm f/3), Derogy (220mm f/2.8), and a Derogy Fab 2 Portrait (240mm f/4). These are the optics that give me the look and feel that I want. Painterly, and poetic. Like a half remembered dream. A memory. And they are of the time period I’m referring to in the work.