Large format viscous background effect

[Fiveby4]

I’m looking to learn how to create images with that wavy , viscous background. Under this message is a link to an artist I like who uses this process. I’m assuming this can only be done with glass coated negatives but have been told that this is also possible with sheet film by shooting wide open and blowing out the background ( I’ve tried and it doesn’t work from what I can see ).

Any help with learning how to do this would be greatly appreciated or links to resources that explain this.

Thanks !

http://www.whitneylewissmith.com/

 

[AgX]

From an engineering point of view these are artefacts and unwanted...

A approach to achieve such effect as in the first sample on any material could be by customized processing. But in no way that would be limited to the background. Neither is this the case in your sample.

 

[Ian Grant]

Looks like hand coated emulsions, Have a look at Denise Ross "The Light Farm"

Ian

 

[removed account4]

Are you contact printing or enlarging your negatives ? are they 4x5 ( or larger ) or 35mm/ MF ?
There are ways to do this but they are "long hand" and using homemade or bottled silver gelatin emulsion is "short hand".

In addition to the fantastic website Ian linked you to ...
take a buy, borrow from the public library &c, these books
https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Gelat...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1902538153
This is Denise Ross' book https://www.blurb.com/b/6465389-the-light-farm

They are worth every penny you might pay for them!

Have fun !
John

 

[cramej]

Occasionally, useful information can be found about an artist's process on their website. Whitney Smith's site is one of those.

From her About page:

My past images have been created with a large format 8×10’’ view camera. I hand coat my negatives on panes of glass in a complex three day process. Their sensitivity is extremely low (around ISO 1 or 2) meaning that the photographs are created over a long period, sometimes many minutes. Once exposed and developed the plates are contact printed in the darkroom. From here I take the historical process and meld it with a contemporary one. High resolution reflective scans are produced of the prints and the photographs are then lightly edited and printed on archival uncoated cotton rag paper with pigment inks. Though this process requires a high level of technical skill I do feel the resulting detail in the large format prints(usually approximately 6 feet tall) are unparalleled. All flora and fauna used to create my sets are sourced sustainably by myself. I have recently embarked on a new chapter in technique education learning heliogravure printing to translate my images onto copper plates. The result is more powerful than I had imagined, turning the animals and ecosystems I photograph into near icons. The team at Zopilote Inc Mexico City have helped me create some of the the largest heliogravure photographic etchings to date worldwide. The final prints created by pressing the inked plates to Japanese paper are an unusual bridge of the photographic medium into something deeply painterly. By pushing the boundaries of current photographic practices I hope to change our understanding of what a photograph can be and help define it’s seat at the table of contemporary art.

 

[Jim Jones]

It looks like the negative was splattered with something during processing, something that I would consider an unfortunate accident.

 

[Pieter12]

I’m looking to learn how to create images with that wavy , viscous background. Under this message is a link to an artist I like who uses this process. I’m assuming this can only be done with glass coated negatives but have been told that this is also possible with sheet film by shooting wide open and blowing out the background ( I’ve tried and it doesn’t work from what I can see ).

Any help with learning how to do this would be greatly appreciated or links to resources that explain this.

Thanks !

http://www.whitneylewissmith.com/

Interesting. From her description and the images I would say it is collodion, but the imagery looks a bit too perfect--the flaws are in the background mostly and the lack of focus is quite selective, the relationship between subject and background looks off to me. My judgment is they have been manipulated in post (possibly combining several plates) on top of being collodion plates.

 

[AgX]

My judgment is they have been manipulated in post (possibly combining several plates) on top of being collodion plates.

Interesting thought!
I rather thought the high contrast of the foreground would veil that wavy structure (sample 1). But at such images it is rather easy to see something one just expects to see.

 

[Ces1um]

To my eyes it looks like the background is simply some wash painted onto the back of a piece of glass. The sharp image in the foreground is the actual photograph.

 

[Fiveby4]

Yeah I’ve read her page about how she does it except she doesn’t go into the complex three day process. I was also told that this effect can be achieved with regular sheet film and I’ve tried and haven’t had any luck. I’ve definitely processed a few happy accidents with a wavy viscous super exposed look but have never been able to replicate this.
I was reaching out to see if anyone knows of a workshop , book , or resource that describes this process. We do know she uses glass dry plates and is scanning. That’s about it.

 

[Pieter12]

Yeah I’ve read her page about how she does it except she doesn’t go into the complex three day process. I was also told that this effect can be achieved with regular sheet film and I’ve tried and haven’t had any luck. I’ve definitely processed a few happy accidents with a wavy viscous super exposed look but have never been able to replicate this.
I was reaching out to see if anyone knows of a workshop , book , or resource that describes this process. We do know she uses glass dry plates and is scanning. That’s about it.

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/the-lure-of-collodion

 

[Fiveby4]

Yeah. Once again. She is achieving the effect with dry plates. Wet collodion is out of my wheel house.

Maybe it’s as simple as using dry plates and the viscous effect is simply the hand coating.

 

[removed account4]

Maybe it’s as simple as using dry plates and the viscous effect is simply the hand coating.

Yes it is... and yes you can get this effect with regular film but it takes more practice than make dry plates..

 

[John Koehrer]

Darwin's series looks like it was shot through shallow water. Doesn't appear to me anything like the others.

 

[removed account4]

A handful of months ago another photographer posted here asking very similar questions. I wish I could find the thread so you can have the benefit of others who might have also answered the same question with different answers !

 

[Fiveby4]

I’ll look for it as well. One of the issues I’ve run into is radically different answers which at its simplest is confusing. I think you nailed is jnantz ,
this effect is achieved by a heavy coating of emulsion on a dry plate , shooting wide open and backlighting.

The effect has showed up for me a few times with sheet film after wonky processing errors. I have never been able to replicate it though.

 

[removed account4]

I’ll look for it as well. One of the issues I’ve run into is radically different answers which at its simplest is confusing. I think you nailed is jnantz ,
this effect is achieved by a heavy coating of emulsion on a dry plate , shooting wide open and backlighting.

The effect has showed up for me a few times with sheet film after wonky processing errors. I have never been able to replicate it though.

If you end up coating your own plates, don't forget you can print on them as if they are photo paper ( it is like photo paper emulsion that is coated on the plates ) so
you can experiment with exposures from a small, inexpensive film ( like 35mm ) and enlarge onto whatever size plate you are looking to make. Good luck with your experiments ! and be careful coating your own plates if you don't do it right the emulsion has the tendency to lift off the plate and go down the drain