Enlarger
This is a specialised projector - it projects the image onto photographic paper and enlarges it. Safe Light The darkroom is kept completely dark apart from a red 'safe light'. As most darkroom papers are orthochromatic (are partially blind to red light), it does not matter is the photographic paper is exposed to it. Darkroom Trays These trays are used for holding the chemicals used in the developer, stop and fix in which the prints are left for varying amounts of time. Print Tongs These are used to transfer the print from the developer tray, to the stop bath, to the fix and finally to be rinsed. It is important to remember not to press on the developing print with the tongs as this can lead to scratches appearing later on. Using tongs is preferable to handling the prints it reduces the risk of marks and blemishes damaging the image, and as chemicals are being used. You should keep each pair of tongs assigned to each tray to prevent contamination across stages. |
Photographic Paper
Photographic paper is paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical formula and is used for making photographic prints in the darkroom. The shiny surface must be placed facing upwards so that the shadow of the negative can be projected. Developer The first aspect of darkroom chemistry that is used is the developer. This causes the image to appear. Although the image may appear within seconds, it is imperative to leave the print here for two minutes. Stop Bath The darkroom chemistry continues here - the stop bath stops the developing process. Prints should be left in here for 30 seconds. Fix This 'fixes' the film so that it is no longer sensitive to the light. Prints should be left in here for one minute. Sink The sink is the final phase in developing the images. It contains a running tap and water bath in order to rinse off any chemical residue from the print, so that it is ready for the dryer. |
Creating a print
To create a print, you place the photographic paper below the enlarger and, after putting the filter over the light, turn on the light. I tried to place my objects onto the paper in interesting compositions and I found that the use of block, solid objects alongside more intricately detailed ones created the most engaging prints. You then set the enlarger's timer to the number of seconds that proved the most effective on the test strip (for me, this was three seconds) and turn off the light. After removing the filter, you start the timer. You then begin the process of developing the print using the darkroom chemicals - using the developer, then fix, stop bath and finally rinsing it and transferring the print from each tray using three different sets of tongs. |
Painting on developer |
Double exposure |
For this first process, after I had gone through the usual steps of exposing the photographic paper to the light, I used a small paintbrush to paint on the developer. Then I continued the process of the fix, stop bath and rinsing. This meant that only the areas that I had painted onto the print developed, creating an artistic image.
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For this process, I began experimenting by dimming the brightness of the enlarger's light and increasing the exposure time on the timer so that I would have enough time to move my objects between seconds without over-exposing my print. Initally, I used a time of four seconds (two second increments), moving the objects a small amount between these. This achieved the combination of translucent, faint shapes alongside bolder, white shapes, depending on which objects moved and by how much. I tried this process again but with a dimmer light and a longer exposure time (six seconds, so three two second increments). This allowed me to move the objects three times, so that three different tones were shown (bold, fainter and faintest). Although this was interesting and gave an almost ghostly effect, I felt that the first print was more successful.
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Sandwich print |
Solarising |
For this inversion process, I produced a print as usual. After drying it, I put another piece of photographic paper over so that the printed side was face-to-face with the shiny side of the paper with a sheet of glass over to compress the two prints. I then exposed it to the enlarger's light and used the darkroom chemistry as usual. Don't forget to create a test strip - you will need longer than a usual photogram. Have your aperture on f2.8 and f4.
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For this process, I exposed the photographic paper to light for three seconds, as usual. However, once I placed it into the developer, I removed it again after 10 seconds (just as the image was starting to appear). I placed the print into a new tray and then re-exposed it to the light, then developed it normally.
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In this task, I was required to experiment with the idea of a 'selfie', to look at famous examples of self-portraits in art and photography and to use these to help to create my own examples. The current obsession with photographic self-portraits ('The Selfie') can be traced back to the origins of photography. One of the first things photographers did when they learned how to fix light on a surface was to turn their rudimentary cameras on themselves. The earliest known example comes from 1839, the same year that Louis Dageurre patented the 'invention' of photography as a commercially viable process. Since then, the self-portrait, a genre inherited from painting, has become a staple form of photographic image making.
Selfie is slang for self-portrait. It is used today to infer a photographic self-portrait taken on a mobile device and shared via social media. In 2013, 'selfie' was word of the year in the Oxford English Dictionary. The inclusion of front facing cameras on smart phones and the popularity of social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat have made the posting of selfies increasing popular as a form of photographic self-expression.
The 'selfie' accounts for a large proportion of the digital photographs people make. According to a recent survey, 24 billion selfies were uploaded to the Internet last year (2016). |
Robert Corneluis' Self Portrait: The First Ever 'Selfie' (1839)
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This idea of an alternate reality that can be created by the use of selfies is explored by the photographer Amalia Ulman. Ulman began to act out the story of a fictious alter ego on her instagram account by posting images on her feed. Followers liked and commented, unaware that this was all a manipulated show. Henry Carrol in the book 'Photographers on Photography' wrote that 'Ulman's work reveals a disturbing truth ... by taking selfies and sharing them online, photography has given us what we all yearn for: an identity ... that isn't ours'. He goes on to comment that 'photography has turned us all into marketers - and the product being sold is ourselves'.
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Instagram Upload, 2014 from the works 'Excellences & Perfections'
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'Confronted with an up swell of bigotry both personal and public, I was forced to ask myself, what do people see when they look at me. Am I nothing but black? Is that skin tone enough to describe my nature and expectations in life? Do my strong teeth make me a strong worker? Does my character resonate louder than my skin tone? Using a photographic process linked to the times of ethnographic classification, I repeatedly explore my ethnic features in Character Recognition. The lessons learned are haunting and frightening in these modern times.'
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