I recently came across a project called Flight of the Wild Duck by Mark Lanning (via Alec Soth’s newsletter).
https://marklanningjr.com/flight-of-the-wild-duck/
The artist hints at his methods in this interview:
https://www.cumulusphoto.com/mark-lanning
“By the time I decided I needed to try photographing my negatives under a microscope I was able to reach out to the Biology Department, and a contact there let me take the microscope I’m using for as long as needed.”
“I started with this idea of enlarging to the grain structure but had no idea how to do it. I wanted to photograph ducks in flight but not end up with photographs for Fin & Feather. The distance and the enlargement was meant to speak to the distance of time and the breakdown of reconstructing meaning. Along the way I learned about the limitations of enlarging lenses and the optics that were keeping me from getting what I wanted. I had to experiment with focal length, distance, ISO, and which developer I used to get me to the next step. Nothing is designed for this, so you have to research a dozen avenues to understand why the thing isn’t happening. When it came to the photomicroscopy, I had to find books from the pre-digital era to explain the optics, projections, and lighting setups. All that work became the manifestation of the search, and initially I thought it was going toward one defined end, but as I continue to make tweaks and find new ways to photograph, enlarge, and print these images I’m more inclined to include images from along the process because each result does have its own relevant quality. I’m as obsessed with finding the perfect, crisp grain as I am with ducks, and I’m letting that ride in parallel with the search for stories and sources.”
After all that work, maybe Lanning wants to keep the details to himself. But maybe not. Worth dropping him a note, perhaps.
https://marklanningjr.com/flight-of-the-wild-duck/
The artist hints at his methods in this interview:
https://www.cumulusphoto.com/mark-lanning
“By the time I decided I needed to try photographing my negatives under a microscope I was able to reach out to the Biology Department, and a contact there let me take the microscope I’m using for as long as needed.”
“I started with this idea of enlarging to the grain structure but had no idea how to do it. I wanted to photograph ducks in flight but not end up with photographs for Fin & Feather. The distance and the enlargement was meant to speak to the distance of time and the breakdown of reconstructing meaning. Along the way I learned about the limitations of enlarging lenses and the optics that were keeping me from getting what I wanted. I had to experiment with focal length, distance, ISO, and which developer I used to get me to the next step. Nothing is designed for this, so you have to research a dozen avenues to understand why the thing isn’t happening. When it came to the photomicroscopy, I had to find books from the pre-digital era to explain the optics, projections, and lighting setups. All that work became the manifestation of the search, and initially I thought it was going toward one defined end, but as I continue to make tweaks and find new ways to photograph, enlarge, and print these images I’m more inclined to include images from along the process because each result does have its own relevant quality. I’m as obsessed with finding the perfect, crisp grain as I am with ducks, and I’m letting that ride in parallel with the search for stories and sources.”
After all that work, maybe Lanning wants to keep the details to himself. But maybe not. Worth dropping him a note, perhaps.