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This is the first round of prints from my Thursday session. They came out slightly lighter than I was hoping for after drying. During my second round, someone stole my picture frames with my prints and transparency images inside them. I will see if I can print more of those this week, but it has to happen in the next two days because after thanksgiving no one can be on campus anymore.

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For my final project this semester, I want to continue my flower cyanotypes because I loved the process and subject matter so much. One thing I want to try is producing a gradient effect with the blue when applying the cyanotype chemicals, and I also want to try using transparency images of flowers to make my cyanotypes. The two transparency images I have used so far are positive images, but I also plan to print negative transparency images to use (for cyanotypes you’re supposed to use negative ones). This first batch came out pretty underexposed, especially the prints using transparency images. I will have to leave them in the sun longer, and bring in the contact prints before the transparency image prints.

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For this project, I produced 24 cyanotypes, and these are the six most representative of my concept. Because cyanotypes do not have to be exposed long, this process offered me another way to capture flowers than I am used to. I wanted to make compositions that abstracted flowers by using them to make contact prints, but I still wanted the subject matter to be recognizable.

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The last photographic process I am exploring this semester is the cyanotype process. So far, this one is pretty fun. After mixing the chemicals, watercolor paper is coated with the mixture. The paper is exposed to sunlight for 15-30 minutes covered with a objects or a transparency image. After rinsing my first round of images, I realized I had taken them out of the sun way too early. The blue was much fainter than it should have been, and the next round turned out much better.

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None of my chlorophyll prints turned out. Each batch sat a couple days in the sun, totaling about 20 hours of sunlight each. I really did not like this process.

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My anthotypes turned out pretty nicely! For the first three I used digital negatives, and the last two are contact prints. The last was covered with dirt. My concept for this project was focused on the human perception of time. We look to the sky to do so, while we continue our lives on the ground.

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The next photographic process I’m exploring is the chlorophyll process. I am using transparancy film to create contact prints. The exposed parts of the leaves underneath will react with the sunlight to bleach an image onto the leaves. I am starting with assorted kinds and of leaves to see what works best, keeping their area small enough to fit in 8x10in frames.

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My anthotypes have been sitting in direct sun for over 12 hours. The most noticeable change is in the spinach painted paper, which is now yellow. Other colors have slightly faded. For five of my anthotypes, I am using transparency film to create a contact print. For the other four, I am making contact prints with objects.

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The first phase of my attempt at anthotypes, one of the oldest processes of photography. I blended blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and spinach with vodka to make a paste which I then drained for a liquid. At first I tried to use coffee strainers; that did not go well at all, so I bought a fine mesh strainer. With the resulting juice, I painted pieces of watercolor paper. The vodka in the mixtures is supposed to activate the chlorophyll in sunlight, bleaching the paper anywhere it is exposed. The blueberries did not stick as expected, and the color of the raspberries was very faint, but the spinach and the blackberries turned out very vivid.

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Next we’re making anthotypes! I will combine raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or spinach with vodka, creating a paste to cover watercolor paper with. I will place either transparency film or other objects on the paper (securing it all with a frame) and expose it to direct sunlight for hours.

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The lumens turned out awesome! To make these, I placed foods on photographic paper, covered them with a sheet of glass, and exposed them for 1 to 1.5 hours. Because they are not fixed, these prints will alter over time with their exposure to light.

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Over the past week, I made lumens. Contact printing is one of the oldest photography processes. I focused on experimenting with the different chemicals present in food. Most of my compositions were strictly berry-based because I loved the unpredictability of the juice splattering as they were smashed, but I also used mushrooms, cilantro, parsley, bokchoy, and spinach.

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The pinhole camera thing is not going that well so far. These three out of fifteen that I tried were the only ones to look like anything. I think I just need to keep exposing for longer. I exposed for an embarrassing amount of time at first because I thought my pinhole was way too big. I tried to do some calculations with an aperture determining formula and I got exposure times in the seconds. But how am I supposed to accurately measure something that’s a fraction of a millimeter? Turns out I need way, way longer exposure times. These images are negatives, so all that white is just where light didn’t record. This time I’m going to be trying five minute up to ten minute exposure times, by the minute, and I guess we will have to see how that turns out! This project is due really soon and I don’t even know my exposure times yet, I hope something does something at some point!

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Lately I’ve been attempting to shoot photographs with a pinhole camera, which apparently you can make out of basically anything. To use it you have to be able to return to a completely dark space between every shot, open the camera, and secure your light sensitive paper with tape inside. After you close everything up again, you set up your camera, and when you’re ready, you expose the pinhole. You can then develop your light sensitive paper in the dark room like normal, and the images will come out negative and reversed.

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A little bit of lovin’ in photoshop on the negative scans of film developed using the caffenol process.

Caffeine acts as a developing agent when combined with washing soda and vitamin c powder because of its chemical properties. It is also the most consumed and socially acceptable psychoactive drug in the world. A big part of our relationship with chemicals and substances is how we begin to develop a dependency on them if we consume them often and in excess. Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance, and college life is permeated by it. For this project, I wanted to emphasize the role of college life and coming of age in leading to alcoholism, as well as depict the repetitive, haunting, and tragic nature of addiction. While shooting, my roommates posed around our apartment with various props. The first image depicts the social nature of substance use; many people start drinking or doing drugs at gatherings or parties, or with friends. The second image aims to visually interpret the feeling of being trapped in an addiction and the crushing shame of the situation. The amount of alcohol in images 1, 4, and 6 communicates the excessive nature of addiction and alcoholism. Other substances referenced in images 3 and 5 are included to articulate the idea that addiction isn't as much about a specific substance, it's that person's relationship with certain substances. People who use one kind of mind altering chemical usually try others, or seek for the same effects elsewhere. Addiction is a mental health problem and is often rooted in other issues. Often times, it's a way to deal with something internal. 

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Did you know that coffee can be the developing agent for film? Instant coffee powder mixed with washing soda and vitamin C powder can substitute as developer.

These are some negative scans of the film I developed using the caffenol process. Caffeine is a chemical agent in the concoction, as well as the most widely consumed and socially acceptable psychoactive drug. I wanted to explore the human relationship with chemicals and the dependencies they can cause. I emphasized alcoholism because alcohol is the most regularly abused drug. Alcohol consumption causes 2.8 million premature deaths per year globally.

My roommates posed for these photographs around our apartment. I most want to articulate the role of college life and reaching the age to purchase alcohol in leading to alcoholism.