Figure 1: American Lake WA D7, 2011. Brandt, M., 2020. Works • Lakes And Reservoirs
At my last meeting with Wendy, I mentioned my interest in looking into alternative film developing processes, and she mentioned Matthew Brandt. His project Rivers and Lakes where he takes a photograph at a lake or river then he takes some of the water back with him to then soak his chromogenic print in the water.
He states;
Representation has always had this subject/object dilemma. It is usually when photography becomes standardized that the veil becomes invisible, and a more direct link to the subject is established…but this notion doesn’t really appeal to me so much. I am really trying to make the veil of photography a little more opaque. - Matthew Brandt
As a photographer, who has always wanted a clear connection between image and viewer so they get the best representation of person or place as I can give, I find this statement interesting. He is masking his images/ subjects to create this very surreal abstract images that take on a life of their own, but I also think that because he is using the water from these lakes and reservoirs, I feel that he is creating an accurate representation of these places, even though the images he has made have been distorted.
Figure 2: Crackling Lake WY 5. Brandt, M., 2020. Works • Lakes And Reservoirs
Though I am not after an abstract aesthetic in my work, I am interested in using organic material from locations I am documenting, so I have considered looking into plant-based developers.
Figure 3 : Kale and Reddish leaf developer. Stevi McNeill 2020
I have wanted to experiment with plant-based developers for a while, so for my first batch, I made, Kale and Reddish leaf developer, as it was on hand and wanted to see if this was going to be a reasonable addition to my project.
recipe:
700ml of tap water
2 handfuls of chopped Kale and Radish leaves each.
Boiled water let steep for 12hrs
1/4 cup Washing soda
5g Vitamin C
Pre soaked film for 1 min
Dev time 12 min
Fix time 7 min
The film was way underdeveloped, so I think with the next roll I will double, possibly triple my developing time, hopefully getting some positive results.
Figure 4 : 35mm film developed Kale and Reddish leaf developer. Stevi McNeill 2020.
I have also come across other organic developers via Dagie Brundert that I want to try and compare over the next few weeks.
Rosemary
Boil 2 little twigs fresh rosemary in water for about 10 mins, steep 1/2 hour)
10 g vitamin C
50 g soda – 22°, 40 min
Beer
500 ml beer
12 g vitamin C
50 g soda – 30°, 15 min
(I tried: Budweiser, Old Speckled Hen, Guinness, Stauder, Oldenburger OLs)
Black Tea
500 ml black tea (strong, 7 ts, steep 15 min)
8 g vitamin C
45 g soda – 22-23°, 30 min
References:
Brandt, M., 2020. Works • Lakes And Reservoirs — Matthew Brandt. [online] Matthew Brandt. Available at: <https://matthewbrandt.com/lakesandreservoirs> [Accessed 1 August 2020].
Museum, G., 2015. [online] YouTube. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVOqkkxksWE> [Accessed 1 August 2020].
2015. [online] Available at: <https://www.nps.gov/sajh/learn/historyculture/english-camp.htm> [Accessed 12 July 2020].