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Alterning b&w negatives

jojoman2

Member
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Joined
Jun 21, 2015
Messages
147
Format
35mm RF
Hey folks, I'm looking to get creative. I want to destroy, enhance, bleach, whatever my negatives during and after the development process. I'm a street photographer who used to live in NYC but am now living in a small town in New Jersey, so I'm looking to do more "fine art" type stuff. I experiment a lot with double exposures, but I want to start altering negatives as well. Any ideas on how to do that/where to start? I'm also interested in screwing with color negs but have yet to find a studio space where I can play with that chemistry--so I'll start with b&w

Thanks!
 
Oh yeah, I've already played with using extreme hot temperatures during development using dektol and purposely having the neg stick to itself inside the tank. That was fun for a self portrait series I did a few years back.
 
Why not develop the film normally and unleash your creativity while printing or scanning the negatives? If and when you get tired of artistic extravagance you will still have a decent negative that you can go back to.
 
Depending on the size of your film, you could try either very coarse steel wool or a barbecue grill brush (it will NOT be gentle, so use with caution, and on LARGE film only - one oops and you've completely removed the emulsion from a roll-film negative). Another idea - mix up some dilute ferricyanide bleach, then dip an electric toothbrush (one of the disposable ones you can get at the drugstore) in it, then hold the toothbrush some distance above the negative, and turn it on. Let the bleach sit for as long as it takes to get a result you like, then wash and hypo-clear again. Lots of things you can do.
 
I don't really recommend trying Mordançage without a class (find one that Elizabeth Opalenik is teaching - she's fantastic), but it does work on negatives as well as prints. Also better for bigger negs than small ones. I keep meaning to try it on some negs but just haven't had time.

Kill your darlings as John posted is a great place to start, too.
 
I miss Emil’s contributions to this place. Always amazing images, and generous with sharing his knowledge.

I’ve spent the last few years working on new ways to alter my negatives. The more ways I come up with, the more I realize I’m just scratching the surface ( no pun intended but I like it...)
 
He hasn’t participated here in along time. I don’t know why. He’s still making photos, though.
 
Raghu Kuvempunagar said:
Why not develop the film normally and unleash your creativity while printing or scanning the negatives? If and when you get tired of artistic extravagance you will still have a decent negative that you can go back to.
Click to expand...
there are some effects that can only be done through damage to the film. ( and its fun ).
 
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