Film and Alt-Process Photography

[quixot]

Saw in the Art thread some mention of starting a thread on film photography (@sonicstructure, @philmaguire) Would love to see and hear more on what folks are doing/have done in this area.

I do stuff with 35mm, 120, and a dwindling stock of fuji pack film, making prints as well as cyanotypes and gum prints, though not as much as I’d like.

Still very new to this forum and hope I’m not overstepping with this…!

[pheeb]

Used to do a lot if stuff with experimental photography 3 or 4 years ago, I’ve moved into exclusively working with sound in my art practice now but I see a lot of parallels, especially between working with inconsistencies with film and what I now do with tape. The way I use feild recordings and abstract them in my work so they are just recognisable, taking something from real life and using process to warp them seems very similar to my photography.

This is from a portrait series made by mounting a dipopter to my bedroom window, blacking out the room except for the lens, and exposing direct to a 10x8 paper negative. The positive had the developer applied by a brush.

This ones just a photogram using a paper cutout, again with developer applied with a brush

And this one is from a 4x5 pinhole camera I built, something like a 2 minuite exposure. Really unpredictable camera, you had to choose your subject carefully. It kinda reminds me of the inbuilt microphone of a really crappy minicassette dictaphone I have, unpredictable but works great on the right sound sources.

[ermina]

i have a bunch of old exposed 135 and 120 b&w film in the fridge for way too long (it is the third fridge they are waiting in…). I have to find time in the next months to process them. Will probably try a caffenol recipe since there is nothing to lose on those films (i don’t remember what is supposed to be on them).
I used to do prints when having access to a lab but after that i just got used to simply scanning films.
Long time ago I wanted to try cyanotypes or similar hand emulsion slow-printing but didn’t have the space; and now that space is not a problem, i don’t have the time anymore.
Then i have no doubt that this idea will come back to me in the future at a moment i’ll be able to enact it. May this thread be a seed of that moment.

[ht73]

In terms of “alt-process” I wonder if anyone has heard of Syl Labrot? his work from the 60’s and 70’s is totally unplaceable, like nothing of his time or of the present. His work in its inscrutability and sense of “total alchemy” has become a major influence on what I’m trying to do musically. [By “work”, I mean what I’ve found online, it’s never exhibited and the 1976 book Pleasure Beach is always offered only at collector prices.]

.

More images here:
https://www.harpersbooks.com/pages/books/19921/syl-labrot/pleasure-beach-a-book-of-photography

I’m also fascinated by the work of Francesca Woodman, who showed us that ghosts are always real… another mindset I try to take into the studio.

[quixot]

Whoa! Not familiar with Syl Labrot but seriously tempted to splurge on a copy. That looks great. Fingers crossed one will pop up for under $100 someday.

[quixot]

@pheeb Love that portrait. So you took the pic through the window, turning your room into a camera obscura? I always wanted to experiment with hand brushing the developer, but my darkroom space is a teensy tiny bathroom that I can barely turn around in, what with having the enlarger wedged in and trays arrayed in a rather sketchy manner. My cross-contamination fears were too high.

@ermina Cyanotypes are great, they take the least amount of hands-on time and attention. I usually expose 'em out in the sun.

Gonna scan some prints to post. I kinda hate scanning and seriously slack on it.

[Simeon]

I do a bit of film photography. Here’s my book: http://amzn.eu/5tArUeA

And here’s a recent Zine I published: https://www.awonderfulkindofimpossible.co.uk/zine-rome/

And here’s a video I shot to film:

[pheeb]

Thanks! Yea that’s how I did it, with the sitter outside, and two hotshoe flashguns really close so I didn’t have to worry about long exposures. Think it was a 1 or a 1.5 diopter, came in a pack of 4 for really cheap.
It was developed with a combination of brushing on developer and dipping parts of the print in the tray so it doesn’t evenly develop. I guess if you keep some dev in a jar so you can brush/pour it on into a dry tray it might reduce mess.

[sonicstructure]

glad to see this new thread! I’ve been getting more and more obsessed with film over the past few weeks. recently upgraded from a Canon AE-1 Program to a Nikon F3- the best 35mm slr ever made IMO.

I’ve only recently started down the path of film and analog formats so I haven’t quite explored any further than the world of 35mm, although I plan to someday invest in an old modular-back 120 format system.

If anyone cares to see here are a couple recent shots off the F3 on Fuji Superia 400 (one of my favorites I’ve used so far)

[baleen]

well Syl Labrot is now on my BUY SOON list

edit: I mean “buy as soon as I’ve got $600+ to spare”

[nuun]

I got only very recently into film photography. I bought an Olympus om10 two months ago. I really love the process and the results so far! Here are a couple of photos:

[iain]

I love the feel of analog film photography, and 8/16mm projections and making film loops from them
I usually use a couple of Holgas, so 120 format, but I’ve got a few 35mm cameras too, as well as an old Bolex 8mm camera.

I’m preparing to try to film a music video of one of my tracks using my 8mm camera and trying some double exposure stuff with it, so maybe it’ll turn out ok.

I love the work of Karl Lemieux, and would love to know if anyone knows how he did the effects in The Quiet Zone, because for a few of them I’ve no idea, and I’m nearly 100% certain there’s no digital post processing. https://www.nfb.ca/film/quiet_zone/

The Quiet Zone is also a fascinating film about people suffering from electro-magnetic hypersensitivity, and more people should watch it.

[philmaguire]

I haven’t had the time to do much photography recently, but hoping to remedy that over the summer. My goal is to make a small B&W riso printed photobook, kind of along the lines of Daido Moriyama/Rinnko Kawauchi/Saul Leiter. Has anyone made any books? Any tips? I get lost in all the printing types, and trying to keep the cost realistic is tricky.

I’d also love to have a small exhibition and get some nice prints made up. Any advice folk can give for that would also be appreciated!

EDIT - how about a lines london photography meetup group?

A few photos for interest:

[myecholalia]

well Syl Labrot is now on my BUY SOON list

edit: I mean “buy as soon as I’ve got $600+ to spare”

Have a look at Abebooks. Couple of copies for significantly less than 600. Maybe not in pristine condition, but still.

[sonicstructure]

love the colors and your composition, what film did you shoot those last two on?

[baleen]

well it’s gonna be behind the Ernst Haas volume ‘Color Correction’ in my “expensive photo books to acquire”

[Jonathan_Riley]

I’ve been taking photographs for around 5 years, with the last 2 exclusively using an old Leica SL2 I stumbled upon at flea market. I’ve posted this in one of the other threads about photography we have on here (we should have a category for this… I think), but I’ve been experimenting more and more with soaking before developing, especially if I am not too keen on the subject matter for a particular roll (low risk, high reward). Here is a vinegar-soaked example from the Porcupine Mountain region in Michigan’s Upper peninsula.

I’ve noticed that soaking in vinegar has actually made my colors much more vibrant in some cases, almost like a watercolor in this photo. I’ve also noticed the depth is astounding in this shot; it has an almost 3-dimensional quality to it.

[_mark]

I used to do some darkroom photography many years ago. I actually really miss the process of it - something magical about watching images emerge in developer.

Here are a couple that were shot on that super fast TMAX 3200 stock. The bottom one is solarised through the developer.

[ubu]

Karl Lemieux

He used mordançage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordançage
If you read french: http://blogue.onf.ca/blogue/2016/09/14/ondes-et-silence-4-questions-cineaste-karl-lemieux/

[nuun]

Thanks! I think it was a FUJICOLOR SUPERIA 200 film.