I should probably be working, but I’m easily distracted these days. Pretty, shiny things catch my attention and pull me in. Lately, it’s been all about printing photographs.
There’s been a project swirling around in my head for quite some time. I’ve already taken a number of photographs that I’m happy with and I am finally going about the process of finding the look of the prints that I want to make. This led me to the photography and printing of Kenro Izu, especially his cyanotype over platinum prints. His ability to combine the two processes to achieve a deep, rich blue and a long tonal range gives his prints a unique beauty. His still-life images have a dark and mysterious feeling, a nighttime dreamscape. This is almost the look that I’m after.
I am still a beginner in the world of platinum/palladium printing but I have figured out a few things and am able to translate most of what I desire to my final prints. As far as cyanotype goes, I’ve treated it as a novelty and have only scratched the surface of the process. So, in combining the two I have much to learn and am excited to finally get started.
These four prints are my first attempt at combining the two processes.
After creating the six-inch square digital negatives and reasoning through a few initial issues, I jumped in. I did not take pictures of the initial Pt/Pd prints, but they turned out lighter than I had expected. This was due to using a different paper than usual, the cheapest watercolor paper I had. The paper also gave the prints a much rougher quality than I’m after. Pre-shrinking the paper is necessary and I am happy with the accuracy of the negative registration between the two processes. There were many other steps and missteps along the way. I did remember to take notes, though, and have a checklist started for future prints.
Overall, I am happy with my first attempt. Going forward I will use only one negative that has the correct overall look and feel for my project and try to eliminate some of the other variables. I’m also going to scan the prints with a flatbed scanner, the iPhone pictures do not do them any favors.
