Experimental techniques to emphasise the aliveness of film itself?

[Tel]

Minox + Lith printing works for me.

View attachment 410725

ICRacer: I like this photo a lot! Guessing it began as a long exposure through the windscreen of a car as you were driving down a highway at night....

 

[ezphotolessons]

But what the heck do you mean by “indexicality of photography”?

indexicality means something existed and reflected back into the camera and film registered or indexed it the indexical nature of photography roots it into reality cause things do not magically appear on the negative that did not exist in front of the camera unlike digital files not indexical so are they photography?

 

[Klaus Mähring]

One way to emphasize grain is to overexpose heavily, e.g. Ilford HP5 on 35mm exposed +2 or +3....
Cross-processing (developing E6 film in C41) is also a great way to 'let the film speak'. Again, overexposure usually helps.

Shock-treating film with very cold and very hot water/chemistry during developement also might turn out some nice structure on your negatives.

 

[pentaxuser]

indexicality means something existed and reflected back into the camera and film registered or indexed it the indexical nature of photography roots it into reality cause things do not magically appear on the negative that did not exist in front of the camera unlike digital files not indexical so are they photography?

Any chance of explaining the above again in as simple a way as possible. I could your words quite clearly but I am afraid none of it make any sense to me. Put it down to my age. Pretend you are explaining it to your grandad

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[ezphotolessons]

Any chance of explaining the above again in as simple a way as possible. I could your words quite clearly but I am afraid none of it make any sense to me. Put it down to my age. Pretend you are explaining it to your grandad

Thanks

pentaxuser

the camera records / indexes onto the film. the index I think means it physically exists as a record of reality. There is no chemical latent image that is a digital file, the image file through a different process and they say it makes a difference. I am not a philosopher and to be honest they seem the same to me, but if you ask a philosopher they might attempt to change your mind.

 

[koraks]

the camera records / indexes onto the film. the index I think means it physically exists as a record of reality.

I don't think the nature of the sign needs to be physical, or that a digital index would be any less of an index than one on film. Maybe you're thinking of materiality, which can be understood to refer to the physical nature of something and the relevance of that physicality. Perhaps at that observation we should also abandon the tangent of the digital vs. analog comparison, since OP very specifically inquires into the medium of film, which makes it not very relevant to dive too deeply into this issue of indexicality as it pertains to the film/digital distinction. A discussion of this would be interesting, but I'd invite those interested in it to start a new thread on it.