Demand for Pt/Pd workshops in London?

Ian Leake · Jun 17, 2007

I'm toying with the idea of hosting some Pt/Pd printing workshops for beginners in the later part of this year (or early 2008). But I'm not sure whether there's sufficient demand in the UK for such a thing. At the moment I'm thinking of a weekend, starting with negatives and paper coating on Saturday and printing on Sunday. I think participation would need to be limited to 2 or 3 people in order to have as much "hands on" time as possible. Materials would be included.

Is this something anyone would be interested in? If so could you let me know.

Justin Cormack · Jun 17, 2007

I would be interested; its not something I would try without going to a workshop I dont think.

Monophoto · Jun 17, 2007

How many practitioners of the Pt/Pd tradition are there in the UK?

It may be that the potential market for such a workshop needs the stimulation of seeing more Pt/Pd work. More work on display translates into greater interest in the process which means more potential students for a workshop.

alexphoto · Jun 17, 2007

Hi Ian
I presume you already practice Pt/Pd. Which system do you use, where would it be held and what facilities would there be. Oh and how much?
Alex

Ian Leake · Jun 17, 2007

I dont know how many, but Im not aware of any other than myself. I would love there to be more, so thats sort of where Im coming from really. Pt/Pd has got a reputation of being difficult and costly which, I think, puts a lot of people off. And until youve seen real platinum prints you dont know what youre missing.

Sufficient people in Europe have contacted me about experimenting with pt/pd that workshops seem like they may be worth investigating. But I dont want to do a whole lot of educational design and planning before Ive got a better feel for the number of people who may be interested. Hence this post

Monophoto said:
How many practitioners of the Pt/Pd tradition are there in the UK?

It may be that the potential market for such a workshop needs the stimulation of seeing more Pt/Pd work. More work on display translates into greater interest in the process which means more potential students for a workshop.

Ian Leake · Jun 17, 2007

Yes, for several years now. When I started pt/pd printing I spent a lot of time and money going round in circles. I read everything, bought everything recommended by everyone, and experimented a whole lot. I wish I'd had a way of jump starting myself and getting to the point where I could make consistently satisfactory prints sooner.

I'm not sure it should matter terrifically to a beginner which system is used so long as its understandable and consistent. Experimenting with one system or another is more of an advanced topic in my opinion. (Though for the record I happen to use the B&S A+B kits with Potassium Oxalate.)

I expect Id use my studio and darkroom in central London: partly because its easy to get to, and partly because I wouldnt want to cart around chemicals, my UV light box, etc. Im sure you understand that at the moment its too early to decide on specifics like dates and pricing - Im at a very early stage of thinking right now.

All the best, Ian.

alexphoto said:
Hi Ian
I presume you already practice Pt/Pd. Which system do you use, where would it be held and what facilities would there be. Oh and how much?
Alex

Davec101 · Jun 18, 2007

Hi Ian

I would definately be interested, my next process to try is platinum and I need some initial help to get started so the workshop sounds a great idea, also its on 45mins to get to London from me which is also a plus.

schambuk · Jun 18, 2007

I live in Yorkshire but would certainly travel to attend a workshop. I have produced some Kallitype and Palladium prints but would value a workshop if only to act as a reference point. I hope you receive enough interest to launch this project.

Steve Chambers

SeamusARyan · Jun 18, 2007

Ian

keep me posted as I too would be interested

be well

Seamus
www.seamusryan.com

Stoo Batchelor · Jun 18, 2007

Hi Ian

I would also be very much interested and wouldn't hesitate to book a place on such a course.

I hope good things come from this thread.

Regards

Stoo

catem · Jun 18, 2007

Ian,

I would also be very interested, & have been looking out for workshops in this, which don't seem to exist. Distance not a problem for me as I'm a Londoner.

Out of interest, do you use only LF negs contact-printed? I have enlarged MF negs that I have used for cyanotypes but am also interested in creating digital negs (hope I can say that here), though that might be something for another place/day...

Ian Leake · Jun 18, 2007

Hi Cate,

Yes, I only use LF film at the moment. I dabbled with digi-negs but they never satisfied me. Isis claim to be able to make enlarged negs via a digi intermediary of some sort, but at £120 a neg they're a bit too steep for me.

I have tried making my own internegs but haven't made a satisfactory print yet. The process is very simple but I need to work out the right exposure/dev combinations for the various steps. Hopefully I'll have cracked this soon

All the best,

Ian

catem said:
Ian,

I would also be very interested, & have been looking out for workshops in this, which don't seem to exist. Distance not a problem for me as I'm a Londoner.

Out of interest, do you use only LF negs contact-printed? I have enlarged MF negs that I have used for cyanotypes but am also interested in creating digital negs (hope I can say that here), though that might be something for another place/day...

philldresser · Jun 18, 2007

Ian

I might be interested.

Out of interest, are you looking to run this yourself? Or are you looking at getting someone else in? If so, Who do you have in mind?
Cost would be my main determination factor.

Cheers
Phill

Russ Young · Jun 18, 2007

There must be some interest- Terry King in Richmond has been giving regular alternative process workshops in Richmond for over a decade. The one I attended in 1998 was full.

Russ

micek · Jun 18, 2007

I live in the Canary Islands but travel to London fairly frequently. Depending on the dates the workshop might be held I'd be interested too.

roy · Jun 18, 2007

I have been to the workshops run by Terry King. He also teaches at Inversnaid and might well have weekend workshops at his studio in Richmond.
Worth contacting him via his website for information. When you decide on a possible way forward Ian, I would be interested to learn further details.

Ian Leake · Jun 19, 2007

Thanks everyone for your encouragement with this. There's one key question though, and that's around negatives. Would you rather bring your own (and trust that it/they work), or would you prefer to shoot something on Day One to print on Day Two (which would obviously limit the choice of subject)? Or maybe both?

Davec101 · Jun 20, 2007

For me i would rather bring my own negs.

SeamusARyan · Jun 21, 2007

I too would prefer to work on my own negs, rather than using up the time shooting something, I appreciate getting the neg right is a big part of the process but your not always going to have the perfect neg so knowing how to work around it would be a good exercise, in my opinion

would it be possible for you to email those of us interested just on the off chance we are not checking in with apug all the time (I know, how could that be possible, but it happens) so we don't miss out on anything important

enjoy and be well

Seamus
www.seamusryan.com

Ole · Jun 21, 2007

Ian,

I'd be interested too. Again the dates are decisive, and I have no idea when I'll be able to attend (starting new job September 1st).

I'd prefer to bring my own negative(s), in any size from 6x4.5cm plates to 30x40cm (!).

philldresser · Jun 21, 2007

Own negs for me as well. I shoot 5x4 but would do some interneg work for the course.

Phill

micek · Jun 21, 2007

I'd rather bring my own negs as well.

UKJohn · Jun 21, 2007

Hi,

I'd definately be interested, but being a 'poor' student the cost might be prohibitive, with plenty of advanced warning I might be able to save some pennies.

John

keeds · Jun 21, 2007

Would be very interested depending on dates and cost. Not bothered about negs, might be nice to follow a complete process known to work rather than bring negs that may or may not be appropriate.

Ian Leake · Jun 21, 2007

OK, it looks like a preference for using people's own negs (which I quite understand). I'm going to have to do some serious thinking about this before making firm commitments. I'll reach out to everyone when I'm a bit more clear on this. Many thanks for your input everyone.

Demand for Pt/Pd workshops in London?

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