"The Pond - Moonlight" and the Gum-Bichromate Process

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B. Anthony Cutteridge - 17 Feb 2006 16:12 GMT

Hey, all.

I was most interested to see a photograph sell for more than $3 Million
CDN, but after seeing an on-line copy of the image I can understand why,
at least to some extent. Quite apart from its historial value, it is a
beautiful print, and given that it is a multiple-printed gum-bichromate
print involving various pigment layers, the production of the print is
quite an artisitic feat by itself.

I would be interested in trying the process myself, just out of
curiousity. I have a book that details the process, as well as many
other artistic but now-antiquated printing processes, but one of the
biggest problems is that gum-bichromate is a contact-printing process,
meaning the final image is only as large as the negative used to print it.
I would like to know the most efficient means of producing a large
negative (ie: 8x10, or 11x16 if possible) from a 35mm negative.

If anyone has any suggestions or can refer me to any resources, either
printed or online, I would be most greatful.

-Brian.

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Lew - 17 Feb 2006 17:28 GMT

You might be interested in joining the mail list
alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca, but I'm still interested in how this group
responds as well.
-Lew

> Hey, all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> -Brian.

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hoarcroft@verizon.net - 17 Feb 2006 19:50 GMT

>If anyone has any suggestions or can refer me to any resources, either
>printed or online, I would be most greatful.

Go to the Photographer's Formulary. They hold workshops in Montana in
alternative processes. They also supply materials via mail order.

-
-----------------------------------------------------------
les clark / edgewater, nj / usa
-----------------------------------------------------------

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Nicholas O. Lindan - 17 Feb 2006 20:04 GMT

B. Anthony Cutteridge" <root@Shiloh.dnsalias.org> said:

>If anyone has any suggestions or can refer me to any resources, either
>printed or online, I would be most greatful.

The Keepers of Light: A History and Working Guide
to Early Photographic Processes

William Crawford

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&kn=keepers+light+crawfor
d

& most libraries/inter-library-loan

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
Fstop timer - http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

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Richard Knoppow - 17 Feb 2006 22:20 GMT

> Hey, all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> -Brian.

A Google search for "gum bichromate" returned lots of
sites. The basic process is simple but there are a great
many variations. I also recommend the alternative processes
mailing list. There is an archive of the list with
subsciption instructions at:

Archives:

All the messages sent to this list have been saved in an
archive. They
are available in two ways:

A browseable index on a web site at:

http://www.usask.ca/lists/alt-photo-process

There is "web mirror" of the current months messages at:

http://duke.usask.ca/~holtsg/photo/current

In fact, there is an on-going discussion of the best
methods of gum printing on the list now.

Signature

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@ix.netcom.com

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Robert Feinman - 18 Feb 2006 13:17 GMT

> Hey, all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> -Brian.

Many people make "digital" negatives these days for contact printing
processes. Basically you scan your original and print it out at the
needed size on transparent film using an inkjet printer. You can do
all sorts of tonal corrections on the digital image that were difficult
or impossible with the all-film workflow that used to be the only
option.

Signature

Robert D Feinman
Landscapes, Cityscapes and Panoramic Photographs
http://robertdfeinman.com
mail: robert.feinman@gmail.com

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B. Anthony Cutteridge - 18 Feb 2006 18:26 GMT

> Many people make "digital" negatives these days for contact printing
> processes. Basically you scan your original and print it out at the
> needed size on transparent film using an inkjet printer. You can do
> all sorts of tonal corrections on the digital image that were difficult
> or impossible with the all-film workflow that used to be the only
> option.

Of course!

You know, that possibility have never occured to me, but now that you
mention it it is certainly the most sensible as well as the most practical
method. Not only would it be easiest way to make a full-sheet negative
from a small one, but it also naturally makes it possible to also produce
a suitable full-sheet negative when one has no negative at all of the
desired picture but only a positive print.

Thank you very kindly for the brilliant idea! :)

-Brian.

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