Damaged Negative

brianmquinn · Jun 16, 2016

This is what happens when you get your film wet, it dries and it sticks together and later you pull it apart.

This is from the very beginning of the roll. Most of the later shots were fine.

Still this is one of my favorite shots from the roll.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 16, 2016

If that had been created by someone who's currently in-favor in the art world, it'd be hanging in a top gallery and selling well into six figures.

Sorry.

Cool image, though.

Hey! Maybe you've created a new technique. You could call it quinnography.

Truzi · Jun 16, 2016

I'm sorry you lost some images, but that looks really cool.

Wallendo · Jun 17, 2016

That image looks better than 95%+ of the images I have seen on Flickr.

Gerald C Koch · Jun 17, 2016

Wallendo said:
That image looks better than 95%+ of the images I have seen on Flickr.

Damning with faint praise. Are there ANY good images on Flickr. Even hate the name!

The posted image is a very happy accident. I really like it and that's tough praise from me.

gone · Jun 17, 2016

If you had projected this onto a huge canvas back in the 50's or 60's, along w/ some other negatives like it, and painted what we see here, it would be worth millions of dollars. I like it.

Whoops, that's exactly what Theo said. Maybe it's still possible. I would go for it myself. The colours and composition cannot be improved upon.

"This is from the very beginning of the roll. Most of the later shots were fine". You mean the other shots were screwed up and not nearly as good as this I one reckon.

Gerald C Koch · Jun 17, 2016

BTW stop telling people that the image was an accident. The official story should go something like this. "The image was achieved only after months of experimentation and many rolls of film."

pdeeh · Jun 17, 2016

Wallendo said:
That image looks better than 95%+ of the images I have seen on Flickr.

#sed 's/Flickr/APUG/'

Saganich · Jun 17, 2016

Yea, I would try to repeat it.

Svenedin · Jun 17, 2016

As abstract art it is fantastic. A happy accident!

brianmquinn · Jun 17, 2016

One thing I am curious about is how the bubble patterns formed. A lot of the image I assume is the various emulsion layers being peeled back and torn. But the multicolored bubbles?

Theo Sulphate · Jun 17, 2016

Which film is it?

brianmquinn · Jun 17, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
Which film is it?

It is 35mm film and I shot this a few years ago but I'm pretty sure it is Kodak Max 400. That was my main color film at the time. Today I mostly shoot Portra 160 and 400.
When I get a chance I'll look at the edge markings.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 17, 2016

Cool. It's not transparency then. So -- I can get some old expired film that I'd never use for anything serious and try this quinnography process. Basically, go through all the steps of developing, fixing, washing, let the film dry stuck together, then peel apart, right?

If I can get anything close to what you got, I'm going to print it and put it up on my wall as abstract art.

brianmquinn · Jun 17, 2016

You interpretation of the method of quinnography is more or less correct BUT let the film dry completely first.
Then cut the film into strips.
Then add some drops of liquid to the film (don't wet the whole surface).
When it is dry it will be "spot welded" together in places but not in others.
Then I slowly pulled the film apart (I was at that time trying to save the images).
Then I just held it up to the light to see how "bad" the damage was and I could see the wonderful surprise.

brianmquinn · Jun 17, 2016

One other thing to note. These were sitting on the counter of my darkroom when they got wet. I can't say what I might have spilled on them (maybe even beer). I do not see any chemical residue so it most likely was just water.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 18, 2016

So you cut the totally dry film into strips of maybe 4 or 6 frames.

The water, or beer, is then deposited at random on each strip.

Are the wetted strips then stacked onto each other? Or do you let each of the individual strips curl into themselves?

brianmquinn · Jun 18, 2016

Sorry for the delayed reply. I was at the Dayton Airshow taking pictures

The negatives were stacked on top of each other. In my case they were 6 strips but for your use I would guess 4 strips would give you more chances at good result.

Damaged Negative

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