Alternative Photographic Processes Symposium
It was a pleasure to present the historical and contemporary use of the New Chrysotype process at the Australian Photographic Processes Symposium (APPS) in Victoria. Organised and hosted by Gold Street Studios the APPS brings together international and Australian practitioners to examine 19 century photographic practices and their use in contemporary work.
Conservation techniques, the merging of analogue and digital technologies, and ground breaking research (National Gallery of Art, Washington DC) regarding the stability of platinum and palladium prints were discussed. Christina Z Anderson, Associate Professor in Photography from Montana University, Dianne Longely (Agave Print Studio), Lynette Zeeng (Swinburne University) and Jane Wood (State Library of Victoria) were several of the presenters.
A few years ago I was fortunate to be introduced to the New Chrysotype printing process by the affable and generous Dr Mike Ware. A chemist and exhibiting photographer, Dr Ware has been successful in modifying Sir John Herschel's chryostype process of 1842 to overcome issues such as excessive contrast and uncontrollable colours.
New Chrysotype is a print out process that uses UV light (blue end of the spectrum) to produce images that have a delicate tonal gradation and a matt surface finish.
Fascinated by the prospect of achieving a range of monochromatic colours including pink and purple, I began working with this process to explore the colour variations and create images of pure gold. Some examples of the pink achievable with this process and the split tone effect can be found in the Drape series on this site.