Michael Ackerman and the milky veil

silvercloud2323 · Apr 27, 2023

Hi ,

I love the work of the American photographer Michael Ackerman very much. And was always intrigued how he made these images. His images are often described as dreamlike and between a nightmare and a fairy tale.

The photo below shows the use of a kind of milky veil he manages to add to his artwork. Its very subtle and flows from very present to not at all. How could he do that?

Daniela · Apr 28, 2023

I didn't know his work and wow! I like how he embraces light leaks and uses chemistry in his work.

I'm not sure about this picture. The veil has no defined edges, maybe an alteration was done to the negative? Or was there an in-camera mask? It seems to be the result of light as opposed to chemistry. The black and white specks, on the other hand, are really defined, so maybe that was done directly on the print.
There must be an interview somewhere where he talks about his process. I'd be interested to find out!

Don_ih · Apr 28, 2023

That photo reminds me of watching Liquid Light emulsion develop on a piece of glass, where I'd done a lousy job of evenly coating it. It doesn't remind me of the result - but of what it would have looked like if I stopped development and took a photo of it, as it was, before fixing.

At any rate, that looks handmade.

Arthurwg · Apr 28, 2023

I'm a big Ackerman fan as well, but more familiar with his earlier work. He is a great darkroom technician.

prado333 · May 9, 2023

in his book about Benarés he used a holga camera and a cheap panoramic one.
He has been using toys cameras on and off.

prado333 · May 9, 2023

The book is titled End time city is a fantastic one. First was impresed by Scalo and recently another publisher made other version.

Michael Ackerman and the milky veil

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