These images are made from 4" x 5" negatives, exposed in a view camera, contact printed onto a hand applied emulsion. The light sensitive substance was a mixture of Platinum and Palladium, Iron salts (cyanotype), silver (kallitype), or other chemical solutions (gum- bichromates). The emulsions are water soluble, spread on a fine paper, dried and exposed to light with a negative held tightly on top by means of a sheet of glass in a tight frame.

 

In person these images create an intimate relationship with the viewer as, by their very nature, they are much smaller than typical fine art prints and require a close viewing distance. Being contact prints they also require a carefully considered composition as there is no cropping in the final depiction. That is why some artists show the application brush strokes and edge of the film negative.

 

The silver based negative and subsequent positive image (as seen in the Black and White portfolio) is one of the oldest processes in Photography's history. Most of these Antique or (as some call them) Alternative processes only came later, as artists tried to find separation between the "objective" document of the straight print and the ability to be more creative and exercize more individalized control of their self-expression.