Coercing colour
Native solarised unique gelatin silver paper three-day pinhole long exposure, captured with coffee can pinhole camera (Figure 1). The subject matter and size of the pinhole resulted in a flat image. The paper negative was treated with a diluted developer and solarised in an attempt to reveal and lift the image. The captured image disappeared while traces of time and place from the darkroom processes evolved (Figure 3).
Figure 1. Native solarised unique gelatin silver paper three day pinhole long exposure, 2022, 120x254mm
Figure 2. Notes on back of above gelatin silver print, 2022
Figure 3. Infinite void, 2022, digitally enhanced scan of solarised unique gelatin silver paper pinhole (three day) long exposure (Figure 1)
Keywords
Pinhole, Long exposure, Coercing colour
Long exposure pinhole
Like lumen prints, pinhole long exposures form directly on the gelatin silver paper (Figures 1). In fact, developing pinhole gelatin silver paper long exposures is likely to overexpose and obliterate the image. Further, as a photographer with a foundational generative practice, making the cameras, cutting the paper, composing and producing the exposures, and then developing the paper negatives is a complete and all-encompassing cycle. The pinholes are as much artwork as the images made of them. Consequently, pinhole photography epitomises the ‘evolving’ and ‘devolving’ Kintsugi and Wabi Sabi aesthetic, fostering serendipitous outcomes and ephemeral, captivating and hauntingly evocative images that question time and space while acknowledging the fragmented and displaced with newfound beauty.
Floating in D minor, 2022, digitally enhanced scan of solarised unique gelatin silver paper negative five-day pinhole exposure, original print size 140x150mm (approx)
Keywords
Long exposure, Pinhole, Solarise, Unique print, Gelatin silver, Experimental darkroom