This image is a cyanotype of an image I took a bit over a week ago at Niagara Falls, from a spot called Table Rock. I took this image on a Friday morning, very close to the spot where a couple of days later, a young woman would slip and fall into the river and over the falls, to her death.
Another final image for my Women and Cameras series, this time a real Cyanotype of Memento Mori.
And the good news? Beginning in January of 2012, my Women and Cameras Series will be on display at The Wild Oat Bakery and Cafe in Ottawa. I will also be giving a presentation on how I create these Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown prints. Details to follow!
This is one my favourite pieces of photography gear, a “Seneca NoSlip” splt-back contact printing frame from the early twentieth century. I use this device to sandwich my negatives with paper coated with either Cyanotype or Van Dyke Brown chemistry. The term split-back refers to the ability to unfold part of the back to check on the exposure, while the paper is still held securely in place; this feature is crucial for the kind of prints I am doing.
In addition to its utility, I like the rich colour of the wood, and the patina of the brass fittings; it exudes history and tradition in a way only an analog device can.
Today another image in my Women and Cameras series. This is a Van Dyke Brown print of model Angel Noel, holding a 1950’s vintage Exakta 35mm single lens reflex (with waist level, not eye-level finder). It was amazing shooting with Angela; she is a artist herself: as a painter she had great instincts for poses and other creative ideas. All in all, a great collaboration!
Here’s my first attempt at printing with a process called Van Dyke Brown: similar to the Cyanotype process, but the prints come out a beautiful brown. It will take some practice to get the paper coating and exposure right, but I think it will be worth it! 🙂 The image is another one from my Women and Vintage Camera series.
Another cyanotype this time around. This picture was made at the Riverdale Zoo in Toronto, again using my Rolleicord Twin-Lens Reflex. I created a digital negative and then made the cyanotype below. The paper has a fairly coarse texture, and I like the effect it has on the image. Just one more reason why it matters to see a print in your hands, not just pixels on a screen.
Ron Lefor and I have just released episode #2 of the Film Photography Podcast. In this episode, we speak with Toronto area photographer David William White about the paper negative process that he uses for much of his photography.
I wonder how many rolls of undeveloped Kodachrome are still out there? Of course they cannot be conventionally developed, but they can still be processed as black and white, since Kodachrome is basically black and white film to which dyes are added in development. (This process of adding dyes in development is what made the process so complicated). I had a couple of exposed rolls that I just never got around to sending to Dwaynes in Kansas City for processing, so after reading about how some other people had done it, I gave it a shot last night.
I used a developer called Rodinal, (dating from 1893!) at a dilution of 100+1, and was thrilled to get usable results, such as the image below. I still have a couple of unexposed rolls of Kodachrome that I can now use; I just won’t get “nice bright colours.”
My Third Eye 